Staring Contest
by fast track
Summary: On her first day of university, Ino takes a liking to a guy; unfortunately he fails to reciprocate her feelings.  As Gaara begins to learn the details of her dark past, will he change his mind? Is Ino really the girl he thought she was?
1. Chapter 1

Well, I've never done this before but I do not own these characters and I make not claim that I do.

"INO, GET YOUR BUTT OUT HERE OR WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE!"

Ino's eyebrow twitched in irritation as the high-pitched shrieking continued to penetrate her dorm's "solid" wooden door, interspersed with incessant fist-banging. As if that voice wasn't giving her enough of a headache.

Her old friend, Hinata, perched upon her own pale blue bed spread with her hands covering her mouth in a half-hearted attempt to stifle her giggles- and was only half succeeding. Still, Ino couldn't complain, there was _way_ worse roommates she could be saddled with.

"I'll be out in a second, Sakura!" Ino called back as her fingers continued to glide across her laptop's keyboard. Really, Ino loved her to death, but that girl needed to learn some patience.

Within seconds, she hit the save button with a resounding _click_ and demurely shut the cover. Ino drummed her fingers against the shiny purple surface of her most prized possession as she took a beat for mental inventory; nope, she hadn't forgotten anything.

Ino pushed back from her desk at last, allowing her chair swivel an extra few times. "WHEEEE!"

And Hinata finally lost her battle with the giggles, now laughing outright.

Laughing as well, Ino rose from her seat and stretched her arms above her head to work out the kinks that accompany being fixated at a desk for more than an hour, her white T-shirt also rising to expose her tan, flat stomach.

"You know, you really should hurry about before she bursts a blood vessel or something," Hinata reasoned, finally regaining some of her composure.

This time it was Ino's turn to crack up and she reflected on just how much her friend had changed. When they were younger, Hinata had always been such a shy thing, turning quite alarming shades of red and passing out at inconvenient times. And her horrendous speech impediment! She couldn't make it through 'please pass the salt' without violently stuttering a good half dozen times.

Ino had found a certain degree of cuteness within her stuttering, unlike certain others she could name, who had tortured her in merciless (though original, Ino had to admit, albeit grudgingly) ways.

In response, Hinata had tirelessly committed herself to working the stutter out of her speech until she could call (if she so desiered, which she never did, thank God) a high priest a useless, old cow cursed with unfortunate face and natural odor, without breaking eye contact or stumbling over her words.

Ino decided it was one hundred percent worth it to see the look on the face of Hinata's cousin when she marched up to him and promptly called him every bad 's' word she could think of, plus those contributed by Google.

"Maybe the blood would deplete from her forehead and reduce its massive size," Ino said in reply to Hinata's early comment, "but I'll still be ready in a second, I just need to find something to put my hair up with."

Ino began rummaging around her already somewhat cluttered desk, despite it only being the first week of university- they'd barely even finished orientation week! Ino paused as she came across her acceptance letter to this very school.

Sakura had been baffled as to why she had been so insistent on displaying it as prominently as it was, after it was "just a piece of paper" in her words. To Ino however, it was so much more than just a symbol of another dead tree. More than anyone even realized.

"INO-PIG, YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THIS!"

Shaken from her thoughts, she immediately began rummaging around the shiny wooden surface once more, letting out a small taa-daa once she finally found an elastic. Ino threw her long blonde hair up in a messy ponytail, not bothering to secure her bangs, leaving them to fall across one eye.

Ino gave Hinata a small smile to signify her readiness and Hinata too shoved off the bed to standing.

"INO, YOU PIG, I SWEAR IF YOU AREN'T THROUGH THIS DOOR IN TWO SECONDS AND MAKE ME LATE FOR OUR VERY FIRST CLASS OF OUR VERY FIRST YEAR OF UNIVERSITY-"

"Oh," said Sakura as Ino happened to open the door in mid-bang, causing Sakura to freeze with her fist suspended and her mouth still hanging open to scream.

"Really, is this a flashback to your previous hair style or something, Ino?" Sakura asked in a tone completely different from the near-banshee decibel of seconds before. "Feeling nostalgic, I take it?"

"Actually, I didn't have time to properly fix it, you see, seeing as how someone thought it would be wise to inform the entire building of their location and intentions for the day in a method reminiscent of the Neanderthals."

"Huh, would you imagine that. Speaking of which- imagination… it's a funny thing, isn't it? I personally imagine there was a reason alarm clocks were invented. Possibly in order to be conscious long enough to do what you need to do _before _you have to be somewhere!"

"Haruno Sakura, I'll have you know I was up plenty early. Speaking of which- NEED CAFFEINE!" Ino declared, waving the laptop still clutched in her hands for dramatic emphasis

For the third time that morning, outright laughter ensued and Ino linked arms with her two best friends was they went in search of coffee before class.

"…and then Neji shoved Tenten through the nearest door, not realizing it was the stairwell to the basement instead of the closet he thought it was," Hinata concluded as Ino and Sakura continued to howl with laughter as they learned the lengths her cousin would go to in order to keep his relatives from meeting his girlfriend.

"You mean he still hasn't told them?" Ino managed to gasp out. "But they've been dating for, what, like a year now?" Unfortunately, Ino had her head turned toward Hinata, leaving her obstructed eye to be her only outlook to her surroundings.

As such, it was not that much of a shocker when Ino abruptly collided with another object, to be more specific- a person, and even more specifically-a redhead who appeared relatively close to their own age. His green, green eyes clearly showed irritation, in case you hadn't already gotten the message from the firm line of his otherwise quite nice-looking mouth.

Not that it slowed no down in the slightest; she was used to attitude, actually preferring a guy who could take her own attitude and then give it right back.

Ino, now on the black and white tiled floor, along with all her belongings and what was once her latte, looked up to assess the damage that had been inflicted. Her own tailbone was definitely bruised but her fellow impactee seemed to have fared better, as he had managed to grab hold of the coffee shop's door knob and thus remained vertical.

"I was planning on drinking that, not wearing it," he spoke, his voice low and rough, not to mention totally sexy. Ino felt a slight tingle run up her spine.

"Sorry, I can totally buy you a new one, 'cause I feel your pain, I'm probably wearing mine too-" Ino's eyes widened in horror. "Oh no! Oh no, oh no, oh no, no, no." Ino began to frantically scramble around in search of her precious laptop; until she finally located it.

On the plus side, it had sustained no physical damage from being dropped. On the minus side, it was now thoroughly soaked through with the product of one of Ethiopia's main exports.

"That would be the polite course of action, seeing as how _you_ completely mowed me down," his voice even more irritated now, laced with sarcasm and disdain.

This immediately got Ino on the offensive. "Hey, listen- it was an accident; I apologized and I offered to buy you a new drink and when you think about it, you got the better end of the deal because you only lost your coffee and your shirt whereas my laptop is totally and completely trashed! So why don't you go take your bad attitude and your pretty eyes and shove it-"

"Once again, we're really sorry about this," Sakura cut in with her hand over Ino's mouth. "Maybe we'll see you around campus though…"

He snorted at this idea; obviously it didn't appeal to him.

Hinata gave a small smile and a polite good-bye nevertheless, the practiced etiquette that had been drummed into her since childhood shining through. Sakura's farewell was much more enthusiastic and she ground her heel into Ino's toe to get her to do the same. Ino rolled her eyes and gave a dainty finger wave with Sakura's hand still over her mouth.

Hinata waited a full three seconds after he was out the door and disappearing around the corner before bursting into laughter. Sakura released Ino and joined in, her body shaking with laughter.

Ino rolled her eyes again but even she could see the humor in the situation- that is, until she remembered the loss of her computer, her eyes downcast with disappointment.

Noticing this, Sakura gave her a one-armed hug. "Cheer up, Ino. At least you're the first one of us to meet a guy on campus," she consoled.

Ino pulled a face, but then smiled. "True, he was definitely cute. And he looked good in those jeans. I'll just swing by Shino's later, see if he can salvage anything off of this wreck."

The trio made it halfway down the block before Ino made an abrupt stop and said, "Hey, wait! Hinata's already taken so she doesn't count."

Hinata giggled and Sakura shook her head. "It's times like these that force me to remind myself you're not actually a dumb blonde," Sakura observed, earning herself a shot to the shoulder in the process.

Ino plunked herself in the seat to left of Hinata and leaned forward past Sakura to greet her best friend's boyfriend. Naruto smiled back but before he could say anything, the door at the front of the room banged open, signifying the entrance of the person who could only be their professor.

Ino grinned, recognizing the figure, despite the fact that he had exchanged his casual, yet still classy, shirt for a long-sleeved thermal one; the brilliantly red hair was a dead-giveaway. His eyes scanned over the room and locked briefly on Ino, eliciting a frown. Ino's grin just widened- there was nothing she loved more than a challenge.

"I apologize for my lateness and informal dress; it appears not _everyone_ understands the common courtesy of watching where they are going. As of this moment, I am your professor and I expect you to address me as such."

Ino immediately raised her hand. His eyebrow twitched but he nodded for her to continue anyways.

"So, is this a case of 'do as I say, not as I do', or are you going to be like, the coolest teacher ever, letting us waltz in and out of class, donning informal dress?" Ino's grin widened even more. "-or even no dress at all, which I am totally okay with by the way."

The sounds of laughter rippled through the lecture hall.

"You are all young adults now, I expect more than this childish behavior from you," he warned, implying already that he intended to make this semester an up-hill battle for Ino.

"This is a university class; you should behave like university students, not highschoolers. _Wisdom with age!"_ he thundered.

"Time may be a great teacher, but it killed the students," Ino sing-songed back, thereby eliciting another peal of laughter from the room. "Or something like that."

Their professor smacked his forehead on the palm of his hand.

"Oh, and another thing- I may find it hard to refer to you as _Professor _being that you look my age, not to mention totally cute."

"Yes, I graduated early, but I can assure you I am fully qualified to be standing at the front of this room, Miss-?"

"Ino," she supplied smiling deviously.

"Your _full_ name, if you please," he prompted, now dangerously irritated.

"Oh, that's easy; just take Ino and put whatever your last name is on the end of it," Ino said, twirling the tip of her ponytail. "Come to me with a _hard_ one next time."

"My office- _now!"_ he growled, pointing stiff-armed to the door he had entered through just minutes previously.

Success; breaking point- now established.

"Sure, as long as you're coming with me," Ino teased him further (just for good measure) as she sauntered down the aisle.

His eyebrow was now twitching uncontrollably; he had _never_ lost control of a class before and now because of this one insolent blonde, the entire room was at a loss of composure.

After dismissing the class at the end of his lecture, he planned his method of dealing with the renegade blonde. Deciding on his favorite tactic- the intimidating stare- he marched across the room and banged open his door, rattling the window panes in the process.

Said blonde was sitting in one of the two chairs opposite his desk, staring into nothingness. Taking his own, considerably more comfortable chair, he proceeded to give Ino the stone-cold glare that often traumatized small children.

Ino however, simply looked confused for a second before dawning recognition spread across her face.

"_Oh,_ I get it- staring contest! I love these!" Ino declared, settling further into the straight, wood backed chair and placing her elbow on his mahogany desk to give her chin a place to rest on. She stared back, gleefully and defiantly.

Gaara narrowed his eyes; Ino smiled.

Gaara's eyes narrowed even further.

Ino smiled even wider.

He groaned and fell back in his chair with his hand thrown across his face in the universal "I give up" fashion. Unbelievable!

"Yo, Gaara! What's this I hear about you harassing a student? She your girlfriend or something?" his brother Kankuro burst through the door, neglecting to knock as usual. He claimed the other guest chair without shooting even a fleeting glance at Ino.

"Is she doable?" Simply and crass, yet still highly efficient.

Ino rolled her eyes but Gaara simply put his forehead into his palm again, accustomed to his brother's straight-forward, blunt nature.

"Come on, baby bro. I just wanna hear about your girlfriend!"

"Gaara has a girlfriend?" probed his sister, Temari, as she also barged in.

"Oh, is this her?" Temari said as she turned her gaze on Ino's chair. "She's pretty."

Kankuro finally noticed Ino as well and put on a feral grin. "Whaddaya know, she _is_ doable!"

Ino did an even bigger eye roll.

"Whoops, I'll just let you two get back to whatever you were doing," Temari smiled knowingly as she back out of his office.

"Sorry for interrupting!" she called after herself.

"I'm not," Kankuro said, still leering at Ino in a fashion startlingly similar to that of tiger as it stalks its prey.

Temari marched back into the room and grabbed Kankuro by the ear and proceeded to drag him out of her youngest brother's office, knocking the chair over in the process.

A hollow silence filled the office in the wake of the crash.

"Family?" Ino guessed, more to break the silence than anything else. Still resting her chin in her palm, she blinked her brilliantly blue eyes twice to prompt a response.

Gaara nodded stiffly, his tousled red hair shifting in response to his movement. Ino couldn't help but admire its shine, how it reflected the subdued lighting of his formal office. She couldn't wait to run her fingers through it…

"Well, if that's everything-" Ino began to rise from her chair.

"Not so fast- you still have today's assignment to catch up on."

Ino fell dejectedly back into her wooden seat. Gaara winced inwardly; that had to hurt, especially given the tumble she took this morning. Shaking those thoughts from his head, he handed her a sizeable sheaf of papers.

"To be printed and double-spaced," he said in lieu of a formal explanation.

"Small problem- my laptop is trashed. _'Not everyone understands the common courtesy of watching where they are going'_," Ino mimicked his early words.

Once again, Gaara leveled his forehead into his palm, only this time with a considerably more resounding thud.

"You know-"

"…and so I said, 'If you keep doing face palms like that, you're going to shake something lose!'" Ino filled in her friends was they made their way back to their dorms. She was glad that Sakura and Hinata had opted to wait for her after class while she was detained.

"Please, this coming from the girl who based her final Bio paper on the improbability of causing irreparable damage through repeated eye rolling," Hinata reminded her.

"Hey, in my defense, _your_ boyfriend dared me to," Ino said, giving Hinata a playful shove as they walked along the flagstone path toward their building. "Anyways, I have to go back around four every day until I finish that assignment because, _God forbid,_ it's done in ink."

The trio walked in silence until they reached Ino and Hinata's dorm. Ino began rummaging through all her pockets, her search in vain.

"Hinata, _please_ tell me you remembered our key. Otherwise, we aren't going to be able to get into our room." Ino said sheepishly- this was not exactly the time this had happened.

"She's not going in there anyways," a new voice claimed. "I have big plans for tonight."

Kiba wrapped his arm around Hinata's waist, drawing her close to his side to lead her down the poorly-lit hallway toward his room.

"Wait, you can't leave me stranded!" Ino hollered after the couple, not at all eager to spend yet _another_ night sans a proper bed.

Kiba fished the chain that Hinata's baby blue key hung from out of her cleavage and tossed it toward Ino, never breaking stride.

Ino caught the key but didn't insert it into the lock quite yet, preferring instead to watch the scene in front of her unfold. She knew that face; Kiba was up to something.

Kiba opened his own door and nudged his girlfriend inside with a quickly murmured, "See you in just a sec."

He then proceeded to quickly pound on the door of the adjacent room. Kiba stepped back from arms length as Neji, Tenten, and Lee stuck there heads out of the opening, one over the top of the other, ala _Friends_.

"What?" Neji growled, not appreciating being interrupted in the middle of a social sciences project. At least that is what he referred to it as; the average nineteen-year-old would say 'hanging out'.

"Oh, nothing I just wanted to make sure you were home…" Kiba began slowly, then blurted out, "so you can hear what I'm doing to your cousin."

With that Kiba darted away and slammed his door shut, leaving behind a dumbfounded Neji, a giggling Tenten, and a rather confused Lee.

Ino fiddled with the key dangling from her fingers as she turned back to Sakura. "So, do you want to come in, have some girl talk about our first day and rate all the boys in our classes?"

"No can do, Ino, I have plans. Naruto mentioned something about a ramen shop on campus so we're probably going to go check that out. Care to join us?" Sakura offered, feeling guilty about leaving her best friend to spend the night by herself.

Ino shook her head. "I'll just catch up with you tomorrow."

Sakura shrugged. "Suit yourself." And with that she disappeared around the corner.

Ino watched her for a few seconds before turning the key and slipping through the door. She dropped her bag and ruined laptop on her desk, making a mental note to go track down Shino later. Most likely, he would not be returning to his room with Kiba tonight.

Ino threw herself face down on her bed, inhaling the lingering scent of lavender of her pillow from home. The image of eyes greener than the sea flashed through her mind as her baby blue eyes fluttered closed.

Two seconds, and then she would go find Shino…

I would like to point out that there is a very fine line between constructive criticism and being just plain mean. Therefore, I request you be conscious of your position in reference to this line and keep your comments productive.

That being said, I would love to hear your opinions.


	2. Chapter 2

"GET BACK HERE, INUZUKA! I AM GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS!"

Ino shrieked and jumped about a foot in to the air. Unfortunately, her flight pattern wasn't entirely vertical, meaning her location of impact happened to be the floor- definitely not the most pleasant way to be jarred from a deep sleep.

Ino stumbled to her feet, wincing as she rubbed her poor, abused posterior. To be sure, Ino knew how to take a hit, having grown up in contact sports, but three times in one day was a lot to ask of her ass.

Ino did a double take as she finally caught sight of the luminous green numbers on her up-ended clock. Ino bolted out the door in that split second, barely pausing to grab a hoodie and the fried hunk of plastic that was once her lap top.

Her pale pink key was left on the desk, glinting in the last rays of the setting sun, next to her ID card.

After nearly an hour of tedious searching, Ino spotted an unmistakable pair of darkly tinted glasses that could only belong to one person. He was sitting on one of the more out of the way benches the campus had to offer, nestled within a circle of tall evergreen trees. The air was filled with their fresh and tangy scent so Ino breathed in deeply before swooping in behind Shino.

"Guess who!" Ino sang, covering both his eyes, being mindful not to coat his lenses with her fingerprints. Though now that she thought about it, it would be useful for one of her friends to have her fingerprints on record should she ever be kidnapped and they needed to trace her forced movements across the country…

"I know it's you back there Ino," Shino's voice was resigned but Ino detected the hint of amusement.

"Oh," Ino grinned suddenly. "Then- peek-a-boo!"

She uncovered his eyes and hopped over the back of the stereotypical wooden park bench. Shino snapped his book shut and turned his attention fully on Ino. It must have been important for her to track him down like this; he was exceptionally good at hide-and-seek, the adult version. Or maybe just at being anti-social.

Shino's breath caught in his throat as he finally allowed his (fortunately covered) eyes to scan over Ino, as per the usual male reaction to her presence.

The moderately-deep cut of her stretchy white T-shirt provided a delicious view of her ample chest and the flare of her jeans accented her hips delectably. Her full lips were parted in her usual radiant smile, exposing even, white teeth.

Not that Shino would ever go for her of course. Too much guess work involved in weaving together the bits of her past. Still- she was damn nice to look.

Shino raised an eyebrow, as if to question "why are you here".

Ino response, she held out her useless hunk of purple plastic, giving a simple explanation of, "Oops."

A very simple explanation, indeed.

Shino shook his head and pulled out a small leather case, which apparently housed a miniature arsenal of tools. After careful selection of an instrument, Shino flipped the device over and removed the covering to study the internal structure.

He had barely inserted its slender tip into the system when Ino's laptop began to spark violently, accompanied by loud popping sounds. The two momentarily relaxed as the sparking ceased, only to tense again almost immediately as it began to hiss furiously for a full minute.

Ino and Shino stared each other, frozen in shock. Seconds ticked by before Ino broke down, chest heaving with laughter. Shino gave his head another shake, his expression plainly stating he hadn't a clue how she got herself into these messes.

Ino then had a sudden realization- no wonder Shino had no interest in television. _She_ was his television, or at least his occasional source of entertainment.

"Why don't you just leave this with me and I shall see what I can do," Shino said after Ino had regained a straight face, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth despite his normally cold demeanor.

"677-3265."

Shino blinked.

"It's a phone number," Ino explained, "for that redhead you kept staring at during the frosh water fight."

Ino looked back to smile her thanks. As if she needed to.

That number was _more_ than enough.

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit, _shit._"

"Problem?"

Ino whirled around as a vaguely familiar voice disrupted her tantrum. It took a second for some part of Ino brain to connect _creepy face paint guy_ with _Gaara's brother._

"Yeah, actually and since you are in fact a teacher-" Ino paused. "You are a teacher, right?" she clarified.

Kankuro nodded, a lazy grin stretching across his face as he took in the sight of Ino's form-fitting T-shirt.

"-then I would like to formally register my complaint of- WHY THE HELL IS ID REQUIRED JUST TO GET INTO YOUR RES. BUILDING?"

"That was a question, not a critical statement," Kankuro observed mischievously.

Ino growled menacingly as her blue eyes narrowed, daring him to push her another step further.

Kankuro raised his hands in defeat. "Okay I give. Need any help from- ahem- a _teacher?"_

"No, I got this, but thanks anyways."

Ino waited until he had strolled out of sight before frantically digging her cellular device out of her pocket. _Dammit, why did they have to make jeans so fucking tight anyways?_

Barely a second passed between dialing the number and hearing the other line pick up.

"What the hell do you want? This is not a good time!" a rough voice snarled.

"_Naruto, give me back my phone this instant!" _a voice shrieked in the background.

Ino smiled at the dysfunction that had become the norm between her best friend and her boyfriend.

"What's up, Ino?" Sakura asked. "Oh, be a man Naruto. I'm not that heavy and you won't lose _all_ feeling in your arms.

"Okay, so you remember that security guard at the front desk of are building who has totally been checking you out all week?" Ino began sweetly.

"Uh huh."

"Well, I need you to exploit his crush on you and get me inside because I forgot me ID on my desk."

"Down in a sec."

And then all Ino heard was dial tone.

Hurdle one- defeated.

Second hurdle- lack of a key. Might be slightly more challenging…

Ino stood staring at her door defiantly, with her feet spread should-width apart and her hands on her hips.

"Glaring incessantly at an object does not burn holes in it."

Ino turned slightly to see Gaara's other sibling leaning on the red brick wall opposite to her.

"Trust me, I've tried it on my brother often enough to know."

Ino laughed softly. The older women smiled back gently, telling Ino she for sure liked 67% of the family; Kankuro was yet to be determined.

Temari smiled back at the girl, thinking how good it would be for his brother to finally experience social contact outside of their little family. And Ino truly was beautiful- he honestly couldn't do better if he was Enrique Iglesias.

It was from this emotion that Temari impulsively decided to dangle her ring of keys in front of Ino.

"Master keys," Temari explained, noting the confusion in Ino's remarkably blue eyes.

Ino sighed in relief; she wasn't required to sleep in the hallways just yet at least.

"One condition."

"Name it," Ino said promptly.

"Don't give up too easily on my baby brother. He's just not used to females yet." Temari paused to ponder that thought, concluding, "Which is probably a good thing, because he has the looks of a heartbreaker, what with the brooding eyes and dark past."

Ino's eyes flashed. "I wasn't planning on it. And I tend to get what I go after."

Temari smiled. "Good."

The metal clinked softly as Temari inserted the appropriate key into the lock.

As Temari straightened, the two blondes shared a look of understanding before Ino stepped through her door and Temari rounded the corner of the brick hallway.

The next day, Ino took her accustomed position between Hinata and Sakura, immediately fixing her eyes upon the door through which she knew Gaara would soon appear.

"Hey, Ino- have you seen-" Hinata began but Ino waved her off, not wanting to break her concentration. Sakura shook her head but Hinata just smiled; she could tell Ino was serious about this guy.

And Ino hadn't been serious about a guy in a long time.

Thirty seconds later, Gaara entered the lecture hall, as promised, dressed in a black collared shirt and dark jeans. Within seconds, his eyes zeroed in on Ino and he frowned.

Noticing Gaara's look of displeasure, Ino winked at Hinata and whispered, "Watch this!"

Gaara continued to stare as Ino leaned forward to rest her elbow on her desk, delicately balancing her chin on her palm, in an exact recreation of their last encounter. Gaara glared, hoping (praying, if he were to be honest) that being amidst her peers would knock the confidence right out of her body and the smile off her face.

Ino's smile widened as she held his stare with her own big, wide baby-blue eyes. Gaara let out a barely visible sigh, coming to the conclusion she would not give any time within the near future.

Stupid staring contest.

Instead, he opted for a more verbal approach.

"Miss _Yamanaka,_" Gaara began, his sharp tone echoing off the nondescript beige walls, "would you care to enlighten me as to _why _you are dressed as you currently are? I distinctly remember stating that all my students' attire should be comprised of class, formal even. I will NOT tolerate you looking like any average, rag-tag _bum_ from off the streets!"

Ino frowned for a split-second, Gaara obviously having struck a nerve. Looking down at her customary outfit of a white T-shirt and jeans, Ino suddenly went on the offensive and grinned. "What's wrong, Gaara? White's supposed to be the color of purity." Ino's grin transformed into a smirk. "Would you like me to be a little more, say- _dirty_- next time?"

Gaara cringed inwardly as several wolf whistles sounded from the back of the class. Of course, he _had_ to get that class with the real-life Barbie in it. "_Professor,_ Yamanaka."

"Oh, I'm not a professor yet, Gaara. Maybe someday, though. I can see how you made that mistake, what with my all-around, general awesomeness…" Ino grinned cheekily, loving the way she was steadily driving his blood pressure skyward.

"Out!" Gaara ordered. "I'll see you in my office later while you work on your assignment."

"Okay," Ino giggled. "It's a date!"

And she skipped out of the room with a wink.

"Knock-knock," Ino called before sticking her head through the doorway.

"There is a wooden surface right there; you could actually _knock,_ you know." Gaara said rubbing his temples. This was going to be a long night, he just knew it.

Ino dumped her bag in front of his desk and plopped down into a chair. "I could, but you don't talk as much when I don't make you," she explained.

Gaara opened his mouth, thought better of it, and shut it again. _Do not engage with the lunatic blonde; do NOT engage with the lunatic blonde…_

Looking up for the first time, Gaara took in her outfit, which is exactly what it had been earlier in the day. "Did I not make it clear that you were to dress _formally _in my class?"

"Oh, you were crystal clear. But I'm not in your class- I'm in your office, silly."

Okay, glares and threats obviously weren't working; time for a new approach- reason. "But you had to walk through my class to get to my office."

"True, but you didn't see me in there, therefore how could you know I didn't change immediately before entering your office?" Ino challenged.

"Did you?" Gaara asked, honestly not sure whether she would have or not. This girl had thrown more curve balls at him in the two days he had known then he had received in his life!

"Nope. But then, you're also supposed to wear underwear, but do you see me wear it in my room?" Ino didn't wait for him to answer, immediately going on, "Of course not. You can assume I wear it, but you have no visual proof."

Gaara wasn't quite sure her logic tracked, but he had no rebuttal to her statement so it seemed like an okay philosophy.

"I could tell you what kind of underwear I'm wearing, if you were curious," Ino went on, grinning. "Or better yet, show you…"

"Here," Gaara said, shoving his own laptop across is leather blotter toward Ino. "Type."

Ino rolled her eyes. He had such a short fuse…

"And don't break it," he added as an afterthought. _As if._

Ino looked up from the plain black surface of the computer in front of her to observe Gaara.

"I don't hear any typing sounds, Miss Yamanaka. Did you break all ten fingers or something?" Gara said, not even looking up from the page (now covered in copious amounts of red ink) that he was marking.

"Twelve," Ino said simply.

Gaara paused, obviously, and quite understandably, mystified by this abrupt change in subject.

"The number of nails on your walls, clearly intended for the hanging of pictures," Ino explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Yet you have none."

"I don't socialize well," Gaara said, weighing each word carefully, not wanting to give the brat any more material to use in front of his class.

"No shit, Sherlock. You make social interaction feel more complicated than thread theory.

"String," Gaara corrected tightly, putting undue pressure on his poor sheet of paper.

"No thanks, my jeans are _supposed_ to have holes in them." Ino knew perfectly well the basis of string theory chose to wait until he met her eyes. "Wanna take a closer look?"

Gaara's eye twitched. What in the name of pants possessed him to declare her presence in his office every day mandatory? Oh yeah- the assignment. If he didn't make her do it… well, then she won.

On the other hand, he wouldn't have to listen to her smart ass comments if he gave her a free-bee. Well, at least not _as many…_

As if reading his mind, Ino smiled sweetly, saying, "You know you think I'm witty."

"Go back to your typing!" Gaara grumbled. _She made you look like an idiot in front of a room full of people, just remember that, she made you look like an idiot…_

For a brief second, he wasn't sure she would comply, but Ino's head bent forward and once again, the room was filled only with the clicking of the keyboard.

To be fair, Ino worked for a full two minutes before breaking the silence again.

"So- formal, huh?"

"Affirmative."

Ino rolled her eyes; not yes, but _affirmative._

"So, you're sure you want me to come to class _formally_ tomorrow?" Ino clarified, already mentally planning her apparel out for his class.

"YES!"

Hinata was too overcome with laughter to make a sound, let alone form a coherent sentence. She was laying flat out on her bed, legs dangling in the air and hands clutching her sides, with tears streaming down her face.

Sakura too found amusement in the situation; however she somehow managed to choke out a string of words. "Ino, _why do you look like that?"_ she asked before collapsing into another fit of the giggles.

Ino, who wearing a dress made of a shimmering aqua material that clung to her figure and opened completely in the back, held up by a corset of criss-crossing fabric, balanced on her right foot while fitting her other shoe on.

"I specifically asked if he wanted me to dress _formally_ today and he said 'affirmative'- direct quote," Ino explaining, having finally managed to get the white strap of her shoe over her heal.

"Somehow, I don't think this is _quite _what he had in mind," Sakura shook her, impatiently brushing the bangs away that fell in her face.

"Heels and a gown… You look like you're going to prom!" Hinata gasped- and then completely lost it again.

Ino finished fixing her ponytail, today set in immaculate curls, and shrugged. "_He_ especially should know how words can be misleading," Ino said, grinning impishly.

Gaara only needed one glance at Ino and the effect the daring slit up to the thigh of her dress was having on the male half of the class before pointing stiff-armed to door. "Out!"

Ino winked at Sakura and Hinata as she rose from seat. "Well, he did say _formal_." Ino gestured vaguely as she click-clacked her way out of the class.

"Classy, Yamanaka! Not homecoming," he called after her, blatantly expressing his agitation.

Ino arrived in his office later that night, prompt as always- and also wearing a white T shirt.

As always.

"T shirt, Yamanaka," Gaara said pointedly, his voice harder stone.

"Office, Gaara," Ino corrected. "Or do we have to reiterate The Underwear Theorum againt?

"Professor," he corrected automatically. Ino smiled inwardly at the redness that rose up in his neck while he busied himself by getting out the laptop. "Once was _more_ than enough."

"_OH!" _Ino exclaimed. "So you don't want me to wear underwear at all? Kinky."

Gaara's mouth hung open in disbelief- he was completely and utterly floored.

Ino cracked up. "God, I love how easy it is to screw with you."

"I swear, if you begin talk of how easy it is to actually 'screw' me…" Gaara warned.

Ino blinked but smiled softly.

"Not where I was going with that, Gaara. Now who has the dirty mind?" she teased. Gaara wisely ignored her, though not without extreme self-discipline on his part.

The rest of their time passed in a silence broken only by the rapid clicking of the keyboard as Ino transferred her thoughts to her writing. At last, Ino began to gather her stuff together and make her way back to her dorm.

"Not homecoming," he reminded her as she crossed the threshold.

"You sure you want to go through with this, Ino?" Sakura asked, secretly hoping she would. With no spare as intense academics, this was the only entertainment half the class experienced; they spent their whole day looking forward to it.

"You can still back out," Hinata through, also hoping for another round of Ino vs Gaara- No Holds Barred.

"Absolutely," Ino said firmly before throwing open the classroom doors dramatically. Hinata and Sakura followed her in, edging sideways to minimize their visibility to the public eye. They needn't have worried; every set of eyes in the room were glued to Ino, too astounded to tear them away.

Ino took no notice, instead breezing over to her seat in a demure strut, an elegant picture she promptly ruined by dropping gracelessly into a chair and propping her long legs on the back of the one in front of her.

Sakura and Hinata sank into the seats to her right, her left already being occupied by Naruto. Naruto himself had his face down on his desk, slamming its surface in approval. The sounds of laughter filling the room quieted somewhat as their professor entered the room.

Gaara groaned inwardly, perfectly aware that he had already lost his class' attention entirely for the day. Deciding he may as get it over with, Gaara allowed his deep green eyes to scan the room in search of Ino.

Once he spotted her, those exact green eyes nearly popped out her head. Unbelievable.

Un-freaking-believable.

She was in fact dressed classy today; in fact, she had probably donned every item of clothing that could be deemed remotely classy in her closet before coming to class. She blouses under sweater vests and swirly skirts over slacks, not to mention more strings of gems and pearls than Gaara wanted to even contemplate. She even wore a pair of delicate ballet flats inside of a pair of black pumps.

To top of the absurdity of her image, Ino gave him a girlish finger wave as their eyes locked.

Gaara slapped his forehead and allowed his skin to be stretched as he dragged his hand down his face.

"I wanted to impress you with classy attire, Gaara… Only I couldn't figure out what to wear." Ino grinned saucily. "So I wore everything."

Gaara growled, his patience now being severely tried. Never had he had a student so blatantly flaunt authority before him. He never even _had _a student flaunt authority before.

"_OUT!"_

That evening, Ino strolled into her favorite professor's office without preamble and dropped into her seat to begin her work. Pulling this black surface of his laptop across his impressive mahogany desk toward herself, Ino paused to see if Gaara had even noticed her enter.

Yep, he had; Ino found herself looking into those green, green eyes as time stood still, even if it was for less than a fraction of a second. Gaara quickly looked back down at his paperwork, not expecting the girl to meet his gaze so calmly.

Ino smiled to herself as she began typing away; he hadn't even commented on her white T shirt this time. Perhaps things between her and Gaara were looking up.

How wrong she was…

Well, I have another chapter almost completely written, I just need some feedback to determine of this is even worth pursuing. I would totally appreciate any opinions or _constructive_ criticism you might have. The next chapter leads up to a pivotal moment in their relationship, at which point I will begin exploring the darker elements of Ino's past. Let me know what you think, please and thank-you.


	3. Chapter 3

Ino paused at beat and stared at her door. _Uh-oh…_

Not again!

Sighing in resignation to her own stupidity, Ino dug out her phone to make the phone call of shame rounds in attempt to get into her own freaking room.

First up- Hinata.

"Sorry, Ino. I haven't seen your key since Monday. Maybe you left it at Sakura's?"

_Sakura it is next then._

"Your phone? Oh yeah, Naruto found it in one of my shoes under the desk. Don't ask, really." Sakura warned lightly. Like she really wanted to know what Naruto found so fascinating about an article of footwear.

Ino heaved a sigh of relief; bailed out again! "Sakura, you are a life saver! Thank-you, so much."

"Don't thank me yet. I sent Naruto to bring it over to you…" Sakura began.

"Why not, you're sounding like a pretty kick-ass friend so far." Ino said, pressing her phone closer to her ear as she absent-mindedly chipped the polish of her thumb nail.

"-and then he lost it. In a river. He kept rambling on about Lee challenging him to do fifty passes across a bridge on his hands or something."

Ino paused to ponder the immensity of the empty space that occasionally took form within Naruto's head. Boys. What was it about the Y chromosome that made it a genetic requirement to carry out juvenile and pointless contests?

"_Ino! Are you still there?"_ Sakura hollered, breaking Ino out of her musings.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry- still trying to process the inhibitions of male genetics."

Sakura chuckled softly before wishing Ino luck and severing the cell connection.

_Alright, now who can we try?_

"Eureka!" she shrieked in an abrupt surge of inspiration, causing an unsuspecting passerby to shoot an uneasy glance in her direction.

"What, no one laughed at Einstein when he said it!" she called after him. "It was the hair that they mocked."

Temari.

Genius.

_She saved your ass once already, Yamanaka. Here's hoping she can do it again…_

Glancing down at her slip of paper with a hastily scrawled address (courtesy of Administrations, God bless the socially-awkward new assistant who probably hadn't gotten past first base yet), Ino found herself standing on the walk of a very impressive residence just off campus where Temari and Gaara supposedly lived.

Oh- and Kankuro.

Shrugging off her self-consciousness of showing up on the doorstep of three teachers, Ino marched purposefully up to the huge double doors and rang the bell. The next twenty seconds seemed an eternity to Ino as she shifted back and forth from foot to foot, trying to devise an explanation for her presence that would hopefully not result in hysterical laughter.

_Whoever said a watched pot never boiled was an idiot, _thought Ino, because when Kankuro finally opened the door, she almost fell off the step into the bushes from shock. That would have made the evening _really_ complete- twigs in her hair and an incredibly peculiar favor to ask.

Before Ino even had a chance to explain, Kankuro grinned lecherously at her chest and looked over his shoulder. "Gaara! Your girlfriend's here!" he called before wandering away, leaving Ino to stand awkwardly in the entranceway.

Agonizing seconds dragged by before Gaara's face peered over the polished wood banister of the balcony over-looking their very impressive foyer. A play of emotion passed over his face- surprise, confusion, and then irritation, yet he never once took his eyes off Ino.

Slowly and deliberately, Gaara gripped the mahogany rail in a relaxed hand as he made his to the first floor, one freakin' step at a time. Ino rocked back and forth on her heels, silently willing him to move faster so she could get this over with.

Well, she may have been silent, but something must have given her impatience away because the corners of his mouth twitched in what Ino assumed was a smirk, and he slowed his pace down to that of a snail.

Ino bit back a snarl, reminding herself she was here to grovel for a favor. As a consolation, she contented herself with a massive eye roll.

Gaara remained at the foot of the stairs, leaning against the rail's post and crossed his arms over his broad chest. Gaara simply raised his eyebrows, not even bothering to form the words to question her presence in his home.

"Actually, I was kind of here to see Temari…" Ino said by way of explanation as she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. Catching the similarity of her actions to her childhood friend for the first time, Ino thrust her arm back down to her side.

Gaara noted this with an interest that was not quite as detached as he would have wished. His words however, betrayed nothing of these thoughts. "She's not in right now," he said flatly.

Gaara noticed her face fall at these words. _You don't care what's wrong; she can take care of herself. You don't care what's wrong-_

"What's wrong?" _Dammit._

Gaara was taken by surprise at her sheepish expression.

"I had a favor to ask of her." Ino took his continued silence as an invitation to carry on with the justification of her presence. "She got me into my dorm once before, and my key is now gone."

"Gone?"

"Yeah. _Poof_."

Cue face-palm, courtesy of Gaara.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Ino said, rolling her eyes.

"Dramatic? This coming from the girl who rolls her eyes more often than a bobble head bobs its head," Gaara snapped back, thoroughly engaging with the lunatic blonde.

"That's not dramatic, that's thespian," Ino countered, fully enjoying herself now that she had recovered from her initial unease.

"Splitting hairs, Yamanaka," he said through tightly clenched teeth. Gaara breathed in, and then forced himself to relax; his jaw was beginning to ache.

Ino smiled, her expression plainly stating _oh no I'm not_ and her eyes inviting him to find out for sure.

"_Come on, Gaara! Stop torturing the poor girl and help her get into her dorm. That way, you can be naked and nasty all night long and I don't have to hear it!" _Kankuro's voice rang out from a different room, most likely one of close proximity, judging by the thickness of the walls.

"There's a locksmith just off campus. I will take you to get a new key made, _just this one time_," Gaara said tightly, regretting his offer the second it popped out of his mouth. _Stupid sad eyes._

Once at the locksmith's, Gaara remained standing, preferring to lean against the cool stone of the wall rather than sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair to which skin painfully adheres. Ino had actually claimed a spot atop the front counter, an action the (obviously male) attendant hadn't objected to as she batted her baby blues'.

She now sat there contentedly, swinging her leg back and forth absent-mindedly. Making pictures out of the dots on the ceiling can only hold one's attention for so long, so Ino soon found herself breaking her rigid silence.

"Mommy or Daddy issues?" Ino's query came with absolutely no preamble.

Gaara's stare hardened even more, if that was at all possible. "I don't know what you're talking about," was his cold reply.

"Come on, it's obviously one or the other," Ino coaxed, not at all daunted by his glower.

"Surely, you're parents taught you the lesson of not judging a book by its cover, Yamanaka?"

Ino's smile remained but it became a little more artificial-looking at the mention of her own parental units.

"Just because my image may be a little darker than what you are accustomed to in your preppy little bubble does mean I am suffering from an emotional determent," Gaara continued grimly. "DO NOT make assumptions about me based on my appearance."

"Your appearance? Please- don't make me laugh," she scoffed.

Twirling the tip of her blonde ponytail around her finger, Ino explained her reasoning.

"You are approximately the same age as me, yet you are already a professor at one of the most prestigious universities in the country. You are obviously not a geek, meaning your accelerated achievements, both professionally and academically, stemmed from the need for approval and/or validation from a parental figure.

"Your vocabulary is substantially larger than that of the general population and you use the words in a fashion that is not studied or memorized, instead learned from example. My guess if some sort of authority figure, like a politician or a pastor, whose shadow you felt you continually lived in for the majority of your childhood.

"You ineptness socially is not the stereotypical 'I spent too much time with my nose in a book that I don't know how to engage in conversation with a breathing body', more likely you were isolated from the concept of self-esteem and later societal contact by way of parental interference.

"So no, I did not judge a book by its cover, I read the pages in between," Ino concluded.

"Show some respect for your superiors, _Yamanaka_. Do not pretend like you know me."

"Daddy issues," Ino answered herself. "Your fixation on traditional authority figures says it all."

Gaara knew absolutely no way to respond, short of killing her, and thus remained tensely silent.

"Three thousand, seven hundred and fifty-eight," Ino said, shattering the quiet yet again. "That's the number of times my mother told me I made it difficult to like me in the last year I was at home. Nothing short of perfection was accepted… so I know about parental pressures."

Gaara continued to feign muteness but was secretly taken aback by Ino Yamanaka's actions. Never had someone so accurately dissected his personality without having been in at least partially filled in on his background. He felt strangely touched by her decision to relate to him, despite his lack of participation in their- for want of a better word- conversation.

This time, Ino remained wordless, allowing the buzzing of machinery and the hushed screeching of metal to fill the air.

~~~

Gaara had barely gotten a foot in his own front door before his siblings ambushed him, simultaneously bombarding him with a multitude of questions. Ignoring them both, Gaara kicked off his black and scarlet shoes and trudged into the living room.

Taking the hint, Temari and Kankuro ceased their rapid-fire interrogation until they had all claimed a seat in the living room. Gaara and Kankuro both chose armchairs, leaving Temari to sprawl out languidly on the black leather couch opposite her brothers.

"So I hear your girlfriend turns out to be quite the comedian," Temari said after a beat.

"Ah yes- constant interruptions, losing control of the class, wise cracks galore…" Kankuro grinned. "How does it feel to join the ranks of the rest of us 'normal' teachers?"

"Miserable," Gaara said shortly.

"Awe, don't pout; at least she's nice to look at."

At this, Gaara's face turned the same vibrant shade of his hair, proving to Temari that her brother was capable of human emotion while concurrently disproving Kankuro's theory that he was actually a robot.

"She's more than just a piece of eye-candy, you twit!" Temari threw a sofa cushion at Kankuro's face, satisfied with the resulting _smack_.

~~~

"So what do you have planned for today?" Sakura asked, not even bothering to conceal her gleeful anticipation as she bounded into Ino and Hinata's dorm.

Ino smiled as she remembered Gaara's parting words from yesterday- "_Remember, less articles of classy clothing. But please, for the love of pancakes, still dress in a refined manner."_

"Oh, it's _excellent_," Hinata said jovially.

"Can I see it?" Sakura asked excitedly. "While he is by _far_ the hottest teacher, it's still so fun to see him squirm."

While she liked the words, the look in Sakura's eyes made Hinata vaguely uneasy. Luckily, Ino was no witness to this, instead already rummaging through her drawers.

"Ah-ha!" she cried out triumphantly, at last locating her desired garment.

Ino slipped on the long, pale blue dress shirt and a pair of bronze flats, leaving her long and toned legs bare from mid-thigh to below her ankles. By leaving the top few buttons undone and adding a wide brown leather belt, Ino managed to accentuate her narrow waist and emphasize her bust.

"Very TMA," Sakura said with an approving nod.

"The Morning After look wasn't quite my intention but it'll do."

Ino took another ten seconds to throw her long hair into a sloppy ponytail and the trio was out the door.

~~~

Gaara banged open his office door and strode purposefully to the front of the room, dead-set on getting the best of Ino Yamanaka for _once_ in his life. It didn't take long to locate her, as that was exactly where most of the eyes in the room were already focused.

There she stood, staring at him with one hand on her hip, one on the desk she was leaning back against, and a smile on her face- and wearing only a dress shirt.

And that's when it hit him- _this whole thing is just one bloody staring contest to her!_ And he was the one who kept blinking.

Remembering the nerve he struck on a previous day, Gaara decided to take some shots at her fashion sense, as that seemed to be her weak spot. Oh, how he couldn't have been more wrong…

Gaara slammed his fist down on his desk to secure the focus of the class before he rounded said piece of furniture unhurriedly, coming to a stop in front of it.

"So how does it feel showing up in class like the common whore you are?" Gaara decided to jump right in with the taunts, gesturing to her state of dress.

The smile fled Ino's face faster than Scooby and Shaggy confronted with a ghost.

"A whore?" Ino's voice was deathly quiet, her intent lethal.

"Yeah- whore. Who else would feel the need to stand at the front of a room in only half an outfit, not paying mind to decency?

The eyes that stared at him, once bluer than a summer's sky, now resembled frosted glass- cold, hard, and icy.

"You don't know what you're talking about," she said softly, willing herself to stand strong as her grip on the desk behind her became white-knuckled.

"Oh, I think I do. Is this only way you can get attention? By being blonde and revealing you body and forgoing undergarments, because you don't have a_ brain_ in your head that could possibly stimulate thoughtful conversation?" As Ino's voice got quieter, Gaara's got louder, filling the room with his mocking disdain.

"Stop it." Ino was now shaking, from shame or fury it was impossible to tell.

"What's the matter, Barbie? Afraid to be shown for what you really are? Unbecoming and filthy."

"_Stop it."_

"You are nothing more than a slut and you know it. And that's all you will ever have to offer the world!" Gaara's rage was now surpassing even his own expectations, a startling conclusion in itself, yet he plunged on.

"_I said, STOP IT!"_ Ino now had her eyes squeezed shut, wishing she could block out the words that were now pulsating within her skull, burning hotter with every shudder.

"Get out of my class, Yamanaka," Gaara ordered softly, his decibel now down to library standards.

"With pleasure," Ino said venomously.

The door swung shut behind her, not with a bang but a very anticlimactic click.

~~~

I know, I know, I hate how Gaara acts at the end of this chapter too but it was necessary. I decided to experiment with different styles and this chapter came out with more of a serious tone than the first two. Let me know what you think- was it good? Bad? Was my humor at all funny? Feel free to annoy me if I don't crank the next chapter out in a week, I often need motivation to complete tasks. Opinions are always lovely!


	4. Chapter 4

Kankuro barely had time to dive to the side of the hall as whirlwind of blonde hair, tanned skin and palatable anger stormed past. The look in her eyes made the hair on the back of his neck stand at attention, a primal warning of _danger. _That and the string off death threats she was muttering continually under her breath.

A peculiar sight it was, Ino seeming to moving at an incredible speed while her movements in all actuality were much slower, more deliberate. Baffled and bemused, Kankuro opened the door to his brother's classroom in search of answers. Afterall, there was no one quite as adapt at damaging and/or pissing off a girl as his baby bro; not even himself.

"Yo Gaara! Sup with you girlfriend?" Kankuro called out in front of the entire class (minus one seething blonde), tactful as always.

Now, the shocker for Kankuro was the fact that his younger brother seemed even more bewildered than himself, and he had actually been in the room!

"She blinked," was all Gaara could manage, staring at the door Kankuro had just entered by. Or that Ino had disappeared through, depending on your point of view and general charitableness of the good of humanity.

It actually struck a nerve in Kankuro to see Gaara like this; his eyes, usually so old and wise, hadn't looked this young and at a loss for the answers to life's questions in all the time they had been brothers.

XXXXXXX

After Ino had bolted from class, all she made was a quick stop at her room to throw on some stretchy shorts and a sports bra and then she was on the run. Literally. Hoping the cool air would help calm her brain and her temper, Ino continued to run at a back-breaking pace. Even after her lungs were on fire her legs were all pins and needles from the effort.

The flashback to her former life would have chilled Ino had she let herself think about. Instead, she ran, just like she used to, just like nothing had ever changed. Only it had.

Everything had.

Her failures were no longer perfectly etched on the faces of those around her, demanding she perform better. It wasn't Anko pushing her, not her mother, not her father; no one. Her life was once perfectly planned out for her, down to the very last minute detail. But not anymore, there was no set path, no track lined up for her, no paint by numbers patter.

Now she was travelling full-steam ahead, barreling out of control, driving in the fast lane with her lights off. No one to slow her down, but no one to control her either.

No one to judge her.

But still, old habits die hard as they say, and Ino still felt that restless tension build up in her legs, same as it had always been like when she felt like she was about to lose her grip with reality. So there she was, in minimalistic clothing, freezing her ass off all over campus after having her demons thrown back in her face.

_Gotta keep moving forward. Failure is met with laps; failure is met with laps, failure-_

Ino became so wrapped up in her bubble of fury's mantra she became deaf to the world, not even hearing her name being called out with a truly astonishing level of volume.

Quickly losing patience, Temari filled her lungs with air for one last shot at a shout. "_INO, FOR THE LOVE OF PANTS, FREEZE!"_

And freeze she did, mid-bound in fact, causing Temari to wince. That had to be hard on your legs.

"-shall be met with laps!" popped out of Ino's mouth before she could fully come to terms with her location. Looking around, Ino realized she was on the outer edges of the campus, twenty steps away from the female sibling of Satan's offspring. Ino waved off the puzzled look on Temari's face, not wanting to get into explanations.

"So what happened with him?" Temari asked, not unkindly, deciding to get right to the point. Ino had always struck her as a 'grab the bull by the horns' kind of girl. Which begged the question, what was she running away from? Literally. The opposite sex always seemed to be at the heart of every reckless action, so that's where Temari began.

"I assume by _him_ you mean that spineless, gutless ass whom I would only restrain myself from spitting on if he were on fire." The venomous quality to Ino's normally musical voice threw Temari; there was quite obviously a lot more to the story than Ino would be willing to share.

"Yep, that'd be the one." May as well give it a shot though.

"Then I have no comment," Ino said disdainfully and turned to leave.

"I thought you said you weren't going to give up on him!" Temari's desperate accusation halted Ino in her tracks for the second time.

"I didn't give up on him; he gave up on me," Ino said emotionlessly, with her back still turned and her hand clenched in a fist.

Temari watched Ino's fast-disappearing form with a heavy heart.

_Oh Gaara- what did you do?_

_XXXXXXX_

"Okay, sure- maybe she's a little looney tunes but is that really a deal-breaker?" Kankuro persisted, hot on Gaara's trail as he stormed into their kitchen. "I mean, we all have baggage. Take yours for example- it would cost a fortune at airport security."

"She's a brat, what else is there to say? Not only is she weak of body, but also mind. I highly doubt she has been able to complete my simple assignment from day one, and unlike you, I prefer to converse with someone possessing and actual brain in their head," Gaara retorted, slamming cupboards open and shut in search of food.

"Okay, _first_ of all- have you actually gotten to know her? You label her a brat, yet you haven't even made the effort to see what she's like as a person. Other than, you know, friggin' hilarious.

"Secondly- that body is pretty damn fine. No- more than pretty damn fine, perfection at its ultimate and anything with a stick would agree with me. And don't say you disagree, 'cause you don't count seeing as I'm not entirely certain your human."

Gaara rested his forhead against the cool steel of the fridge door and squeezed his eyes shut, holding onto his patience with both hands. Kankuro was shaking with silent laughter, quickly catching on his brother's discomfort.

"Okay, but her indecency makes me uncomfortable. The amount of skin she bares on a daily basis- it makes her seem cheap," Gaara trailed off, not quite able to put his finger on what he felt was so off about the blonde.

"You know Gaara, _most _guys would be thrilled about that, lining up for blocks just to take a good look at that rack," Kankuro ventured, deciding to drive Gaara's blood pressure up a few more notches. He would never admit it, but he had always wanted to see his baby brother lose control of himself because of something other than anger- hormones, for instance, would be an entertaining start.

Now Gaara began to thunk his head repeatedly against the fridge, much to Kankuro's amusement. It was like having a fun new toy!

"Come on Gaara, your girlfriend's a babe, admit it!"

"What about Gaara's girlfriend?" Temari asked, breezing into the kitchen and dumping her large emerald green (and highly impractical for a teacher, in Gaara's opinion) leather bag onto the island.

"How she's got beauty, brains and a body," Kankuro explained, ignoring the eye-buldged look of disbelief that currently adorned Gaara's face.

"I keep telling you she doesn't have brain!" he said, as close to exasperated as his siblings had ever heard him.

"So then you admit she has a body?" Kankuro probed, thoroughly enjoying backing Gaara into a verbal corner for once. It was a pleasant change of pace. God bless Ino Yamanaka's ass!

"And beauty," Temari prompted.

Ignorance seemed to be the best approach so Gaara decided to ignore his siblings by changing the topic to something more suited to his current interests.

Food.

"Temari, supper?" he asked, having finally got fed up with his search.

"Gaara, marking," she refuted, brandishing a thick sheaf of papers in his face. Kankuro and Gaara winced simultaneously, noting several seemed to be recorded with a colorful wax medium. Why some students still considered crayon an acceptable writing utensil was beyond comprehension.

Gaara turned to Kankuro, who was already shaking his head. "No go, baby bro; it's your turn to do the food shopping."

Sighing in resignation, he grabbed his leather jacket off the back of a chair and walked out of the kitchen, snagging his keys off a hook on the way.

XXXXXXX

"No, no, no, no!" Gaara pleaded in vain as he felt his engine begin to sputter. Coasting several more feet, the shockingly orange truck came to a dead stop on the side of the road. In the absolute middle of nowhere.

Damn you, Trix cereal, only being available miles off campus.

Gaara slammed his door shut, completely infuriated, and wrenched the hood up. Not that there was any reason to, seeing as he didn't know the first thing about cars. Nevertheless, he gave it a look-see.

_Okay, engine seems to be here. I think. So maybe it's… Nope, I have no idea what else it could be._

Gaara raked his fingers through the all-ready chaotic disarray that was his hair and swore to the high heavens upon discovering the charge on his phone. Or rather- the lack there of.

"Problems?" a sarcastic voice drawled from behind him.

Whirling around, Gaara came face to face with one Ino Yamanaka; possibly one of the last people he wanted to see.

Without even bothering with trivial things like words, Ino breezed past the scowling figure of Gaara and peered into the machinery under the hood.

"Yeah, I see what your problem is," Ino said after several minutes of silent surveying.

"So you can fix it?" Gaara asked, forgetting to conceal the hope in his voice.

Ino simply snorted.

_I'll take that as a yes…_

As Ino worked, Gaara took in her outfit, despite his violent teeth chattering, and almost couldn't believe what he saw- bootie shorts and a white sports bra. And in this weather! She had to be crazy. Didn't she ever cover up?

"Do you want to know _why_ I dress the way I do, Gaara?" she asked mildly, seemingly reading his thoughts yet again. "My parents always had high expectations. And as their only child, I was raised as their little princess. Or doll rather, because even princesses are allowed to make their own decisions.

"Either way, failure was not an option growing up in my household. And so one day, when I came home and told them I was pregnant, they kicked me. No questions asked. I didn't even get to tell them what happened."

Gaara attempted to hold back a snort of laughter- he could see where this was going.

Or at least he thought he did.

Ino paused her tinkering until Gaara straightened his face.

"I was raped. It happened one night, when I was walking home. He just pulled me into an alley and then it was over. I tried to fight back but I just couldn't get away." Ino's voice became very quiet, forcing Gaara to strain his ears if he wanted to catch what she was saying. "I was raped and I didn't even get a chance to tell them."

"I figured since my parents thought 'Hey, our daughter's a slut!' I may as well act like one. Childish and petty, I know, but I was angry. And hurt. So I wore short skirts and tight shirts and too much eye makeup and I was exactly the person they thought I was."

Gaara felt his jaw hanging half-way to his feet but he couldn't seem to pick it up. This fragment of information was so far from what he expected he could barely process it. Ino continued to bang about under the hood, the sharp metallic clangs punctuating the cold (physically and emotionally) night.

"So, _Professor," _Ino drew the word out mockingly, "I guess you really shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I am _nothing _like you think I am. And don't you ever forget that."

Oh, that definitely wouldn't be something he'd be doing anytime soon. Gaara prided himself on never making the same mistake twice and the cold malice in her voice more than cautionary enough.

It took Gaara several tries to clear his throat enough to ask his next question. "So how did you end up _here?_" he blurted out, immediately wincing. That could have been more tactfully. Perhaps he should stop spending quality time with Kankuro…

"Now that's a slightly longer story. As I said, my parents kicked me out so I spend some time on the streets, turning some tricks, doing some acrobatics, blah, blah, blah, to earn some money, pay for the doctor's visits. And food, if I could manage."

"And by doctor, do you mean an abortion?"

Ino laughed but the sound was hollow.

"Funnily enough I didn't even get to make that decision. Had a miscarriage." Ino's movements became more jerky, but she seemed no less unsure in her movements, which highly impressed Gaara. Obviously, she knew more than a thing or two about cars.

"There were some…complications… that followed," she went on flatly, breaking Gaara out of his reverie. He studied her closely; her voice may have been emotionless but Gaara could see the anger in her eyes.

"And that was the end of my gymnastic career. And, by extension, my scholarship. So, I shopped around, talked to a few people, and-"Ino paused to slam the hood down, "here I am."

Gaara continued to stare at Ino even as she wiped her hands off, seeing the girl he thought he knew rapidly disintegrating, leaving behind a totally stranger.

"I hope you learned something this lovely night, _Professor,"_ she said, mocking him again, as she backed away and disappeared into the bitter darkness, leaving Gaara there to stand staring after him. 

XXXXXXX

Gaara slammed the front shut behind himself and collapsed onto the living room couch, wide eyed and still completely stunned from his conversation with Ino. Temari and Kankuro looked up, alarmed at this out of character display.

"Did you know Ino was a gymnast?" Gaara dove right in, not even bothering to wait for the accustomed interrogation for the history of their household.

"Yeah, a competitive one. Elite level, if I remember correctly; haven't you heard any of the other staff buzzing about it?" Kankuro began carefully, wary of what might set his brother off.

Gaara shook his head mutely.

"Which explains what she meant about failure is punished with laps!" Temari said, slapping her forehead in sudden realization. "Intense training and intense coaches- that probably resulted in a lot of conditioning running-"

"-thus creating the habit of running when things don't go right!" Kankuro finished. "Speaking of running- what took you so long, I thought you were just running out to the store?"

"My car died 'bout six miles out," he explained. Kankuro and Temari nodded, used to their brothers abrupt way of speaking. Greatly surprising them, Gaara continued without coaxing. "Luckily Ino passed by jogging; she fixed it for me. Which was kind of weird-"

"WHAT? YOU MEAN SHE WAS _STILL_ RUNNING?" Temari shrieked as she leapt to her feet, hauling Gaara from his own seat in the process.

Shoving him to the door, Temari began to list her orders for the next hour. "It is freezing out there for goodness sakes, and I saw what she is wearing. Do you want to know what?" Temari didn't even wait for a reply. "Not nearly enough, that's what.

"Young man, you are going to march right back out there and escort that girl home into a warm building. No manners, I swear…" Temari commanded, just like a mother instructing a child to do their homework.

Not so surprising, considering she practically raised him.

"But- uh- I mean- NO FAIR!" Gaara whined, not acting like an old man of the age of thirty for once in his life. Once again, Gaara grabbed his jacket and the door he was, rubbing his hands together briskly to ward of the icy temperature.

XXXXXXX

Barely made it, but that's a week. Quite surprising, considering what school has done to me lately. Anyway, this was the first insight into Ino's past, extreme I know, but I wanted to see if I could pull off a totally crazy scenario with my writing so please, please let me know what you think.

Also, since I know where my plot is going, I kinda want to hear what you all think is going to happen. Next chapter MAY take some more time, as I am back into their classroom antics and maybe so more humor. Tell me what you think, please and thank you =)


	5. Chapter 5

Twenty-six and a half minutes later, Gaara was still silently cursing Temari and her pushy-ness, still not having located Ino, even six and a half miles off campus. _I know she's been running for a while already, but she can't be THAT slow…_

Another ten minutes had barely past before Gaara began to double back and head toward campus; no way would be able to track her down this far out. By the time he was nearly home, the sun had long since set, causing the already-bitter temperature to drop dramatically.

Time dragged by like it was shackled to the Titanic, otherwise defined as _very_ slowly. Watching his breath mist over in the air, Gaara decided to take a short-cut through the park and there which he discovered that Ino in fact ran _much_ quicker than he had anticipated.

The second he emerged from a throng of evergreens, there she stood, her flawless skin luminously bathed in the moonlight with the exception of her cheeks, rosy from the cold. Gaara squinted, not immediately noting the distinctly larger figure of a male standing opposite from her. _Guess she was meeting someone…_

Gaara frowned as he watch her body language change drastically as the sound of rising voices carried over to him. '_Then again maybe not' _he thought, picking up his pace. Suddenly, the figure lunged toward Ino, only managing to grab hold of her arm, owing to Ino's lightning-like reflections. Remembering her earlier words, Gaara then broke into an all-out sprint in the direction of the pair, who were still locked in combat.

_Please let me get there in time, please let me get there…_

As it turns out, he needed have worried. Ino simply flicked her eyes down at the hand gripping her own arm, as if it were merely a minor inconvenience as opposed to a threat to her safety. Accompanied with a signature eye roll, Ino brought her free hand back and let her fist fly at the already alarmingly crooked nose of her would-be attacker.

Smirking at the resulting (and thoroughly satisfying crunch), Ino rubbed her forearm gently to get the blood flowing again after it was released as the stranger crashed to the unforgiving pavement- out cold.

As if hearing for the first time the sound of footsteps beating against the concrete, Ino looked up and found herself face to face with possibly the one person she didn't want to see. Coming to a stop, Gaara switched his gaze rapidly between Ino herself and the crumpled and prone form face-down on the asphalt, his bafflement painfully obviously.

Ino cocked her good hand on her hip and stared him down. "What, did you think I could get assaulted once and _not_ learn how to defend myself?" she prompted, her tone too sarcastic considering the hour.

Gaara could only manage to gape in response, his jaw bobbing up and down, somewhat reminiscent of a comedic fish. He was saved from having to pull a reply from his ass as both he and Ino looked down upon hearing strained groans being emitted from the mass at their feet.

Apparently not ready to give up (i.e. not sane), Mr. Not-So-Happy-Or-Bright was struggling to his feet.

Ino shook her head, and then brought her knee up without warning. Mr. Not-So-Bright-Or-Happy's eyes nearly bulged out of his head and all color immediately drained from his face as he doubled over.

"And that is to prevent you from trying this on some other, poor defenseless female," Ino explained slowly, looking his square in the eye. Gaara felt like snorting at this; Ino was quite obviously far from defenseless, though he would admit that this was an idea he had also previously shared.

And with that, Ino raised her thumb and middle finger and proceeded to flick him, dead-center in the forehead, causing him to tip over sideways and get up close and personal with the pavement for the second time that night.

Tightening her ponytail first, Ino calmly stepped over the man, who was currently curled into the fetal position, and was on her merry way.

Gaara, still not quite having recovered full brain function, continued to stare frozen at the groaning figure, now retching from pain. Shaking his head and disturbing the flashy red strands, Gaara once more took off after Ino. He finally caught up to her at the entrance to her building, discovering her sitting on the ground with her feet stretched out in front of her and her back braced against the wall behind her.

Seeming to already know the question he was going to ask, Ino looked up and said, "Nothing quite like shoving a guy's balls half way up his throat to make your evening complete."

Gaara, not being able to think up any sort of reply to her statement, cast about for a new topic and suddenly realized she was seated _outside_ of her building. Before he could even open his mouth to question this fact, Ino yet again appeared to read his mind.

"No pockets," Ino explained her lack of keys and ID, gesturing to her current attire. "Hinata's on her way down to rescue me (God bless intercom). So you needn't worry."

Not wanting to admit to being concerned for her well-being, Gaara awkwardly stammered out, "My sister was the worried one; _she_ sent me out in the first place." Ino stared at him for a long beat as he shifted back and forth; she could really be intimidating when she wanted…

Startled, both Ino and Gaara turned to the front doors as they banged open. Hinata stuck her head and looked Ino up and down, scanning for physical injuries. "Coming?" she asked once satisfied her friend was in good health, apart from a rather colorful set of knuckles and a look of annoyance pasted on her delicate features.

Ino shoved herself to standing, using the cool brick wall behind her as leverage. Ino brushed the non-existent dirt from her long, toned legs and stalked toward the building's entrance, not even bothering to mask her frustration with the male half of her species.

Hinata continued to peer out the door even after Ino had brushed past her, squinting through the heavy darkness to watch Gaara watching Ino. Or at least the posterior of Ino's anatomy. Hinata giggled.

"You realize he totally just checked out your ass right?" she observed as she allowed the steel-and-glass door to swing shut behind them.

XXXXXXX

"I'm telling you, he's been glued to that screen for the past hour and a half!" Kankuro whispered fiercely as he and Temari peered around the doorjamb. Well, whispered may have been their intention but Gaara heard every word. James Bond his brother was not. Gaara continued to ignore them however, not breaking eye contact with the computer monitor.

"That's not so unusual when he writes…" Temari said, albeit rather doubtfully.

"Yeah, but there isn't the normal incessant string of clicking keys that makes me want to put my head through a wall," Kankuro scoffed. They pair then fell silent, continuing to observe their younger brother's increasingly inconsistent behavior.

"Screw it, I'm going in!" Temari sucked in air at Kankuro's bold declaration as stepped back and gestured to the door- the universal signal for 'after you'. And with that, Kankuro stepped into their rather formal living room and was at his brother's side within a few long strides, peering over his shoulder.

"False alarm, sis- he's just creepin' on his girlfriend!" he called back to Temari, who left the doorjamb and entered the room cautiously to see what the fuss was about.

Sure enough, right there on the screen was a series of pictures and articles, all pertaining to one Ino Yamanaka- captain of the national gymnastics team. Ino, mid-air on the floor; Ino, youngest ever national champion; Ino, posing elegantly on the beam; Ino, world all-round gold medalist; Ino, sticks a double Arabian with a sprained ankle.

And the list went on.

"She was supposed to be the next Nastia Liukin or something…" Gaara said softly, awed by the extensive accomplishments of the girl he mentally compared to a Barbie doll, both in mental capacity and usefulness.

Temari placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, knowing what he needed most was silence to process this new revelation. True, both she and Kankuro were already aware of Ino's child prodigy status.

"What do I do now?" Gaara asked after an extensive silence, at a total loss on how to deal with this… this… this- stranger!

"Act like you also did, baby bro." Kankuro grinned widely. "She liked you that way, though Lord knows why."

"But I don't _want _her to like me!" Gaara protested, sputtering violently as if for all the world, Ino had cooties.

Temari and Kankuro just laughed in response, sharing a look that said _how eighth grade is he?_

"So, Kankuro- you hate the sound of keys typing? Remind me to make a mix of that and put it on loop next time we clean the house…"

XXXXXXX

"Come on, Ino! You can't just give up. What happened to 'it's a battle of wills' and all that jazz?" Hinata pleaded from across their dorm, laying half off her bed, upside down.

"Nope," Ino said without even turning away from the mirror as she straightened her swirly white skirt. Pairing this with a lavender top, Ino looked more refined than ever before in her entire stint at university to date. "I hold firm to my declaration."

Right at that moment, the loud bang of a slamming door sounded out in the hall, causing Hinata to tumble completely off her bed in surprise, taking her bedspread along for the ride. Hinata and Ino shared a stunned look (immediately after the former managed to shake the covers off her head and blow the way-ward strands of midnight hair from her face) and the pair bolted for the door to investigate the source of the commotion.

"Naruto, I told you, we're done!" Sakura said, standing in the center of the hall, with her hands on her hips and determination in her eyes, glaring at her boyfriend.

Or as it now seemed, ex boyfriend.

"But Sakura-" Naruto began, looking thoroughly bewildered as to why this verbal altercation was taking place. And in a very public location, no less.

"_Done!_" she cut in, obviously in no mood to explain her sudden decision. And on that note, she whirled around and stalked down the hall with the destination of Gaara's class in mind, leaving Ino and Hinata to chase after her.

Feeling her hair flying about freely, Ino cursed silently, having once again forgotten to tend to her hair. Hastily throwing the majority of it into an elastic, Ino sighed mentally, resigning herself to another class with her bangs in her face.

The two were breathless by the time they fell into step with Sakura, so Hinata could barely pant out a sentence questioning the events of the quarrel circa seventy-two seconds ago.

"It was just over. Nothing really left between us, I guess," Sakura said absently, paying for attention to the inspection of her nail polish's current state. "Does this color clash with my skin tone?"

Ino and Hinata shared a doubtful look; there was as little left between Naruto and Sakura as there was between Ryan and Marissa.

"Gaara looked pretty hot yesterday, didn't he?" Sakura commented with a dreamy look in her pale green eyes. This snapped Hinata and Ino to attention; Hinata out of concern and Ino out of disdain.

"You're not actually going to make a play for him are you, S-Sakura?" Hinata asked worriedly, her stutter returning as it did sporadically in times of stress. "One- you just broke up with your boyfriend of two years. And more importantly- Ino made her interest obvious way before like two seconds ago."

"Well, he's technically fair game, isn't he?" Sakura reasoned. "Right, Ino-Pig?"

Ino didn't even dignify that statement with a response, settling for a scornful arching of her eyebrow.

"Whatever, I don't need this right now. I am _way_ stressed," Sakura said, blowing them off just like that.

Hinata stopped in the middle of the flagstone path and crossed her arms, staring at Ino. "Well?" she prompted in a very un-Hinata like manner.

"Well what?"

Hinata rolled her eyes. "Don't be deliberately dense!"

"Am I allowed to be accidently dense?"

Hinata shook her head in resignation; Ino was obviously in a passive aggressive mood today. "Are you really going to let Sakura do this to you again?"

"Again?" Ino asked, still playing deliberately/accidently dense.

"Hello- does Sasuke ring a bell? Sai? That guy you were dating who took her to prom? Junior _and_ senior year!"

"As far as I'm concerned, she can have him," Ino said shortly, not looking to get into yet another catfight with her best friend over a boy. It hurt more and more each time and she was over it.

"Give me one good reason," Hinata persisted.

"He knows."

That silenced Hinata immediately as she recognized the significance of the moment. They walked the rest of the way in total silence, though thankfully not an awkward one. Ino silently thanked the heavens for bestowing upon her such an understanding friend.

XXXXXXX

The instant Gaara entered the class, he began his search for Ino, hoping that criticizing her latest outlandish outfit would restore normality to their spectacularly unorthodox "relationship". To his immense surprise, Ino was already seated with her notebook open, pen poised above the paper in anticipation of his lecture.

And she was also dressed as carefully as if she were about to meet her boyfriend's parents for the very first time. Gaara sighed remorsefully, wishing he would have inquired if Kankuro had a back-up plan up his many-pocketed sleeves. He shifted his gaze, not being able to stand such bizarre sight, and it was by sheer chance his eyes landed on Sakura, who was repeatedly winking in the most blatantly flirtatious manner Gaara had ever seen.

Gritting his teeth, Gaara looked away and decided he may as well jump right into the tumultuous sea that was teaching Ino Yamanaka. _Okay, clothes are obviously OUT; let's try hair, maybe._

"All set to take notes, Miss Yamanaka?"

"Yes," she said shortly, defiantly refusing to look up from her notebook.

"I'm surprised you can even see the paper with those bangs; they seem like they'd make you half blind."

Now Ino slowly raised her head to look Gaara in the eye.

"Seems rather foolhardy, if you ask me."

Kankuro walked in just in time to catch this remark and very nearly walked right back out, not wanting to risk the wrath of angry Ino; coming out unscathed twice seemed to be tempting fate. However, morbid curiosity (and, as some might argue, a death wish) compelled him to stay.

Gaara restrained a flinch, expecting large projectiles to be aimed at his face and/or family jewels. Disappointed he was not when nothing was thrown. He was, however, shocked when Ino didn't follow his jab up with her signature eye roll.

Instead, slowly and deliberately, Ino removed a bobby pin from her pocket and brutally shoved her bangs back, with no regard to her person, all the while staring boldly back at Gaara.

Ino had once again completely redefined herself in Gaara's mind for the _second_ time in twenty-four hours, causing him to freeze mentally. He was about to fall back on the traditional "leave now" line to save himself from having to think of a decent rebuttal, but Ino beat him to the chase.

Again.

Ino rose from her seat and walked calmly to the front of the class where she turned around to face the room. Standing up as tall as she could, Ino crossed her arms and lowered her voice while staring at the seat she herself frequented. "_Out!"_ she ordered to the empty desk in a wonderful imitation of Gaara.

She then returned to sit in her seat only to immediately rise from it and bow her head. "Right, Professor. Sorry," she said meekly, with a touch of sarcasm thrown in to make her point stick. And then she left the lecture, once again sans eye roll, and let the door softly click shut behind her.

Only then did his brain finally catch up with his mouth. "She really was being thespian," Gaara said softly, staring after Ino yet again. Talk about déjà vu.

"Gaara, will you stop having these random epiphanies about your girlfriend? It's extremely disconcerting for the rest of the world," Kankuro requested.

XXXXXXX

Okay, definitely later than I had originally intended, but due to drama beyond my control… Anyways, I apologize. Please don't think I hate Sakura, I really don't. I just needed someone slightly antagonistic for this story line and it is very rare that an author utilizes characters of their own creation effectively, unless it is for a very minor role. Also, I am aware I have never actually stated what class Gaara teaches, but I do know and it will play into the story later on. I challenge you to try and guess, I'm curious to know what you think. Review, please because I am seriously disheartened at the lack of response…


	6. Chapter 6

FIRST OFF- dear sweet Geebus I am sorry for how late this is but I had a major dump of projects and tests for school so my deepest apologies.

XXXXXXX

"Brilliant idea, Kankuro. _Let's just pretend everything is normal and she doesn't hate my guts._ Full-proof plan, that was," Gaara grumbled. He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets as he continued to scuff at the poor and unfortunate leaves in his path.

"For the last time, I said I was _sorry!_" Kankuro groaned, nearing the end of his already-limited patience. "How was I to know she'd go all passive aggressive on your ass? It's not my fault _you_ didn't mention the fact that a little 'heart to heart' took place between you guys- that completely changed the parameters of the situation."

Gaara looked up suddenly. "How do you know a word like 'parameters'?" he asked in blatant disbelief.

Kankuro fidgeted sheepishly. "Temari's been putting 'word of the day' toilet paper in my bathroom lately," he said by way of explanation.

Gaara stifled the rather hypocritical urge to burst into laughter- after all, Temari had barely stopped writing reminders to brush his teeth in the steam on _his_ bathroom mirror.

"Why _did_ you annoy her into pinning her bangs back anyways?" Kankuro asked, reverting to his (and Temari's) tradition of 'Let's Interrogate Gaara'.

"She has pretty eyes," he answered without thinking. Kankuro looked over with peaked interest as Gaara's green eyes widened in shock at the words that had just tumbled from his mouth, without any sort of encouragement from his brain. Had he really just said that?

"Ah, poor, young, naive Little Gaara… more than just her eyes are pretty, you are aware, correct?"

"No! I mean-yes. No, no, I mean that she's uh- shit!" Gaara backpedalled, attempting to explain to Kankuro what he meant when he was unsure as to what the words meant even to himself. Ino was Ino, and Gaara was Gaara. And never the two shall mix. Right? He raked a hand through his hair with a frustrated groan. Talk about going nowhere fast.

The silence that Kankuro's hearty laughter faded into lasted until the brothers trooped up the front steps of their house and Gaara shoved his key rather brutally into the lock.

"I know your pissed, but do you really have to take it out on the house? Is there such thing as door rape?" Gaara paused to put on a decent glare in response to Kankuro's comment before banging the heavy oak door open. "What, can you honestly blame me? You really rammed that thing in there!"

On one level, Gaara saw the humor in his older brother's statement, and if it had been any other day, he probably would have paid homage to it.

However, on a deeper, more personal level, was the recently-gained knowledge of Ino's own rape. The anger that this thought stirred burned deeply inside his stomach, threatening to bubble over and exact revenge of its own accord. Coming hand in hand with this realization was confusion.

Why was he getting so worked up? And over Ino? What had changed in the past few days, why was he filled with white hot rage at the thought of someone gripping her wrist when he had wanted to kill her slowly himself the first time she had appeared in his class?

So caught up in his own reverie that he failed to hear the click of the front door that signaled the arrival of another, at least until Temari marched into the kitchen to dump her belongings in their usual spot- with one Ino Yamanaka in tow.

Lovely- just what he needed to add to the perplexity of his thoughts.

"Look what the cat dragged in," Temari said, gesturing to Ino, who was rubbing the back of her neck either awkwardly or sheepishly- maybe both. It was hard to tell.

"Forget your key again?" Kankuro taunted, not lifting his eyes from her chest.

The long stare Ino returned to his query said it all- Ino Yamanaka was definitely locked out.

Again.

Nevertheless, Temari provided a verbal affirmation of the fact, finishing with, "…and in exchange for getting her into the building, she has ever so kindly consented to cooking us a meal because _I_-" Temari gestured to herself, "-am sick of doing it, and _you_," Temari looked pointedly at Gaara, "won't, and _YOU_," she now shifted her glare to Kankuro, "simply suck ass at even making ice."

Ino snorted at Kankuro's cry of indignation; obviously neither female was having any of his reassurances that he did have at least marginal domestic talents. While Kankuro persisted in his attempts to sway Ino to his side, Temari opened the pantry door and tossed Ino the blindingly-white, hardly been used apron of the house. Ino caught it with ease and, swiftly and efficiently, tied the ends in a neat bow at her back.

Gaara remained glued to the patch of floor on the far side of the island, mesmerized by the flair of her hips and the narrowness of her waist, both accentuated by the ties of the apron. Releasing where his thoughts had wandered, Gaara shook his head violently, trying to unthink what he had already thought. Realizing this was not in the least bit effective, he blew out a mental sigh.

_Okay so you find her attractive… that's not so bad. It's just a physical response, right? I don't have to actually LIKE the damn girl._

Gaara's sensory overload seemed to continue as dinner progressed. Each separate smell tingled his senses in approval and he couldn't ever recall tasting something anywhere near as pleasing as what Ino had somehow produced within their kitchen. The same kitchen in which every member of his family struggled to avoid burning even toast.

So engrossed in his meal was Gaara that be barely heard Temari ask Ino where she had learned to cook but he perked up the second Ino's voice began her anecdote.

"My mother made me learn when I was very small and I guess it's just a skill I've been able to put to use ever since; I grew up with a couple of guys and one of them was like a culinary black hole."

"If there's one thing I love, it's a woman who can cook," Kankuro said appreciatively to Ino who raised her eyebrows in mild interest.

"Who are you kidding, you love a woman who doesn't running screaming in the other direction," Temari said. "Or even a man."

Kankuro glowered at his sister before returning his attention to 5 ft 6 of long legs and blonde hair. "My point is, I'd be happy to take you out on a date anytime your pretty little head desired," Kankuro then lowered his voice the a stage whisper "I'll even give you tips on how to score with my brother."

Ino kept a bland social smile pasted on her full lips as she gave her blunt reply. "Thanks, but I- unlike you- can get a member of the opposite sex who has more than two functional senses."

Kankuro sank further into his seat to sulk as Temari laughed so hard her water made it up through her pharynx and went projectile out of her nose.

"Are saying I can only get a girl who is blind, deaf and mute?"

"No, of course not,"Ino soothed. "The smell might also drive her away."

For the first time, Gaara began to see why people seemed to find this girl so darn funny. When she wasn't wreaking havoc in his classroom, she was actually pretty entertaining. Huh. Who wouldda thunk it…

Conversation continued to flow freely as the meal progressed and Gaara found himself mildly enjoying it despite remaining almost completely silent. All too soon, Temari rose from her seat to begin collecting the used plates and Ino automatically began to help her. When Gaara finally looked at a clock, he realized it was nearly midnight. Where the hell had the night gone?

While Ino was busy wiping down the granite counter after cleaning up, Temari dangled another new key before her, fresh from the locksmith. "Here you are- as promised. Try to hold on to this one a little bit longer, would you dear? That guy at the shop has wandering eyes and I have the distinct suspicion that his hands are about to become adventurous as well."

Ino laughed before accepting they key, cradling it gently in her palm and intriguing Gaara in the process. She treated it like it was the most precision thing in the world. Little did he know, to Ino it was- it represented kindness, something both Gaara and herself had lacked receiving in their childhoods.

"Well, I guess I'd best be off-"

"I'll walk you," Gaara spit the words out before his brain had a chance to process the words, astounding everyone in the room- including himself. All he could think about was that man's hand on her slender wrist and for reasons he was yet to fully understand, he couldn't let himself stand by and let that happen again. He didn't want to see that deadened look in her eyes when she realized it was her body a stranger was after, or the stiffness in her posture that comes from learned wariness. He wanted… to protect her.

Ino's brows shot up underneath her bangs. "I think I'll manage myself; I have before," she reminded him with her hands placed jauntily on her hips.

"Yeah, I know, but-, it's like- Just let me walk you back to your god damn dorm, okay?" he grumbled, slamming open the front door, not bothering to wait for a response.

Ino just shook her head before trailing after him into the dark night and the dropping temperature. Minutes passed in silence before Ino spoke quietly. "You didn't have to feel obligated to come out here with me."

Gaara remained silent for so long enough afterwards that Ino lost all hope at eliciting a response. It therefore shocked her when his low and rough voice replied. "I know." Okay short it may be, but it was still a reply.

"Then why did you?"

Gaara scoffed. "When I figure that out myself, I'll let you know." Gaara hadn't found his response particularly amusing but he was glad Ino had because he was immediately rewarded with the sound of her musical laughter floating through the air. He was almost disappointed when they drew even with her building, meaning she would then be departing.

Odd. Did he just admit he would miss her? Her, as in Ino Yamanaka, her?

Ino turned to face him once the two had stopped in front of the door. She opened her mouth, seemingly about to say something, but hesitated. For the first time in almost her entire life, Ino found herself unable to produce the right words. Words had always come easy to her, be it in speech or on paper, but all her literary finesse suddenly alluded her and Ino found herself staring up at a decidedly sexy man, standing in silence like an idiot.

_All right then, fall back on plan B._

Ino stepped forward, cutting the distance between them to something near non-existent, allowing herself to experience the heat radiating off his body for a split second. Though she was a fairly tall female, she was still forced to stand on tip toe in order to be anywhere near eyelevel with Gaara. She then leaned forward and placed a soft, butterfly kiss on his cheek, thus eliminating the need for words. She originally meant to pull back immediately so as not to freak him out overly, but some odd magnetism seemed to be holding her there.

Time froze for Gaara as he felt her full, sensual lips touch his cheek, feather-light but still there. He never wanted this moment to end, but his lungs were screaming for oxygen and it was then that he noticed he was unconsciously holding his breath. Ino drew back in the same moment Gaara reminded himself to inhale, oxygen was one of life's necessities afterall, and then he watched her slip through the plated glass door of her dormitory.

Gaara refused to reach up and touch the place where he was seconds ago in contact with Ino, finding it too cheesy, pre-teen girl chick-flicky. He still however, felt the heat of her lips, burning hotter and hotter on his skin in the most unique sensation Gaara had ever experienced. How could someone so tough and feisty be capable of such a sweet and gentle action?

How could Gaara himself be capable of even acknowledging- let alone appreciating- said sweet and gentle action?

Almost automatically, Gaara's feet pointed his body in the direction of home and he spent the rest of his walk in a complete daze, unsure if the past evening had even occurred, it was just so surreal.

Yep- was definitely going to miss her. Dammit.

XXXXXXX

Once again, many, many, many apologizes. School- crazy. Friends- even crazier. But there it is, chapter six done and done. Still disappointed about the lack of response but hey perseverance pays off. So far, I planning for Ino and Gaara to start getting closer over the next couple chapters, with some more classroom antics in between. I really would like to know which bits of the story you find most entertaining, or which lines are your favorite, or anything else you might want to tell me. Just so you know, I don't have a clue when the next chapter will be up but fingers crossed soon.


	7. Chapter 7

I TOLD YOU IT WAS STILL BEING WRITTEN! I'm just sorry it took so long. I blame sports. Oops.

XXXXXXX

"How's your laptop coming along, any word from Shino yet?"

Ino, who had thrown her arm across her eyes in attempt to block out some of the sun's painful rays that insisted on creeping through their cheap blinds, now shifted her elbow to expose her right eye, which she promptly squinted to better study Hinata from across the room.

"He claims there's hope," she said, not even bothering to dilute the misery in her voice on the subject. Sprawled across her bed as she was, Ino had absolutely no leverage to deflect the onslaught of plush pillows that Hinata fired yet she didn't even flinch when the last landed defiantly on her face. And stayed there.

Hinata was shocked at having hit her target so decidedly and Ino was shocked to have even been a target at all so the stunned silence stretched on for several beats. Hinata was the first to give, allowing the giggles to overcome her. Ino soon joined in after her and it was a good five minutes before either half of the pair had regained some semblance of composure.

Finally quieting down, Ino pushed herself into a sitting position and asked, "So the point of that was what?"

"Umm… to cheer you up?" Hinata tried.

Ino paused and gave her a look.

"What, it worked- you laughed."

Ino looked pensive for a second, and then gave a small sigh. "Touché."

They lapsed into another companionable silence until Hinata announced it was time to get ready for class. Ino rolled off bed and gave herself one final look-over in the mirror. Her jade silk blouse was wrinkle free and her black shirt hung properly from her narrow waist so Ino mentally pronounced herself fit to leave. A glance at Hinata told her that she was ready as well.

And with only a pause for Ino to tighten her ponytail one last time, the two were on their way to Gaara's class.

XXXXXXX

"Come on! Just admit that you like her!" Kankuro nagged as his little brother began to slam kitchen cupboards with escalating levels of force. "It's not the big a deal! Say it with me- 'I like my girlfriend'."

Gaara's grip on the current cupboard became white knuckled as Kankuro's pattern of predatory circling brought him closer and closer. _Just a bit more…_

"If you don't, there's a lovely young gentleman in my second block who would be glad to lay over tha-"

_SMACK!_

Kankuro had finally edged too close and Gaara had used the opportunity to fling the cupboard door open further, and the resounding impact from Kankuro's face echoed dully in the kitchen. Gaara then stalked out of the kitchen, taking care to ensure that his foot made contact with his brother's prone form on the floor.

He passed Temari on his way out, who paused to take in the scene before her.

"So… any progress?" she asked, straight-faced, as Kankuro attempted pull himself into a vertical position.

"W-ell… he didn't deny it this time."

Temari smirked as she leaned on Kankuro's head, much to his protest, as he only managed to drag himself up far enough to brace his elbows on the island.

"I thought we grew out of this when we were six. Or ten. Or even twelve…"

XXXXXXX

Gaara was beginning to feel uneasy. It was half-way through class and his lesson had so far gone off without a hitch. No suggestive jokes, no challenging smirks, no rambunctious laughter. He had never gone half a class without a disruption when Ino was present.

Hell, he never even made it through the first five minutes.

As such, the tension in Gaara's shoulders mounted with each minute that Ino Yamanaka studiously took notes, by hand, with her pen that had the damn obnoxious purple ink. Gaara forced himself to take a calming breath at that moment- even in his perturbed state, he recognized the fact that becoming irritated with a writing utensil was not healthy.

While Gaara was busy reminding himself how to breathe as he stared blindly at his own chalk board, a paper ball war had broken out between Naruto and Ino's childhood friend, Chouji. Well, paper balls in Naruto's case; Chouji was utilizing crumpled chip bags.

The stress off attempting to evade their ammunition was beginning to wear on Ino; she was almost praying for Gaara to turn around and berate her for something.

At least then the boys' stupid and childish antics would be put to a rest.

Her seat neighbor of the day however did seem to share in her opinion. Lee (who was forced to repeat the course after his over-use of the word 'youthful' in his assignments the previous year- his professor had not been amused) was eagerly tracking the fast-arcing volleys between in the two.

Naruto, having at last grown bored with mere paper, let a couple of erasers fly. One travelled unsettlingly close to Ino's face, and she flinched involuntarily. What happened next was like a scene from a movie- a chain link of unfortunate events, crashing down around her like a set of explosive dominos.

Her reflexive moment turned her head to the left and momentum dictates that her ponytail had to whip around after her, tickling Lee under the nose in the process. Having the sensitive nostrils that he did, Lee sneezed violently and his abnormal lung capacity scattered the papers of the person seated before him.

Unfortunately, that person was Sakura and the situation went from bad to car-crash when she bent forward to gather up her notes only to slide on a particularly slick chip bag and smack her nose on a chair back.

The sickening crack brought a halt to the rest of the chaos.

Everyone (Gaara included) turned to stare as Chouji dropped the would-be projectile clenched in his fist as his jaw hung open in shock, perfectly illustrating everyone else's reaction. Sakura rose to her feet, her movements slow and deliberate but no less menacing as she turned to face the stunned Ino.

_Oh….crap!_

"YOU! This is all YOUR fault!" she shrieked at an eardrum-shattering decibel, pointing a rage-induced shaking finger for emphasis.

"Calm down, Sakura! It was just an accident," Ino soothed, holding her hands up in a non-threatening manner. While these little spats had been a daily occurrence all throughout their previous schooling careers, Ino was for once attempting to hang on to her air of maturity.

With both hands at this particular moment, unfortunately.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN!" Sakura's volume had now reached unfathomable levels. "_Just look at the state of my nose,_ you stuck-up, arrogant, self-centered pig! You _whore!_"

_Dear Lord, please let us live through this with as little bloodshed as possible,_ Gaara thought, his eyes tilting skyward, knowing that the whore comment most likely touched a nerve with Ino.

Suddenly Ino too was on her feet, her chair lying sideways on the floor from the violence in which she stood with. Fuck maturity, this bitch was going down!

"I _am_ looking at your nose! At least this way, its size might be able to detract from the massiveness of your forehead. Though- I wouldn't count on it… Billboard Brow."

"Oh, you wanna talk about sizes? At least I don't have to grow my hair out to ridiculous lengths just to hide immensity of my ass!"

"Get real, Sakura- you're just still sore that you lost the 'Beautiful Bootie' award when we were sixteen! The length of my hair has nothing to do with it."

"Even so, you'd be too terrified to ever cut. You're so vain, you'd probably end up locking yourself in your bathroom for six months for fear you could never get another guy!"

"That's complete bullshit and you know it! I donated to 'Locks of Love' when I was six."

"Yeah- when you were six. Everybody thinks you're too narcissistic to even walk by a mirror without stopping to admire yourself nowadays, let alone ditch the safety net of mile long platinum locks!"

"What _planet_ are you living on? _You _wanna talk mirrors, I caught you making out with yourself in the mirror right before we left orientation banquet three weeks ago!"Sakura blushed, either from anger or embarrassment.

Most likely both.

She stuck her hands on her hips and glared ferociously before turning to the front of the room. "_Well,_ Professor?" she prompted. "What is your objective standpoint on the matter of Ino's conceit?"

Gaara suddenly became much more alarmed. Why would they drag him into this.

Oh yeah- he was the teacher.

"Well- it is very long," he said vaguely, hoping to diffuse the venom between the two females and failing horribly.

Sakura turned back to Ino and smirked cockily, obviously assuming she had achieved victory over Ino at last.

Ino gave a short, coldly mocking laugh. She reached behind her and her fingers closed of the cool, reassuring steel of a pair of _very_ sharp scissors. Twirling them expertly around her fingers, Ino let them fly into the air and complete several revolutions before she caught them deftly on her index finger and flipping them into a secure grasp.

She reached back to grip her impeccable ponytail and was poised to snip the entire thing off before a sharp cry of "STOP!" rang throughout the overwrought classroom.

Both Ino and Sakura turned to stare wide-eyed at their (normally) painfully shy friend who had just taken control of an entire room of her peers, which used to be her nightmare.

"What is wrong with you two? What happened?" she cried in anguish, then turned to address Sakura. "Why are you doing this again? I thought we were past all of this!"

And with that she fled the class in tears, the droplets striking the ground at deafening volume in the tomb-silent room.

Gaara watched Ino stare at the door in torment, her normally clear blue eyes twisting in agony. She then pulled out her phone, not even concerned that he would attempt to prevent her from doing so they were technically still in class.

Not that he would even try to in this situation; he had the distinct suspicion that her stubbornness rivaled his own.

"Don't you dare, Ino-Pig! You are SO not allowed to call Hinata to comfort her, that's picking favorites and SO cheating!"

"I'm not calling Hinata, I'm dialing Kiba!" she snapped, way past annoyed and in no state to put up with anymore pettiness. "I know the thickness of your outrageously large forehead must make it problematic for information to penetrate into your brain but even you should know by now that's who she needs most right now."

This shut Sakura up decidedly, quite obviously hitting home for her.

XXXXXXX

Gaara turned to shut the heavy front door of their household behind him softly, pressing his forehead against it to gather his bearings. Never again. This day was much too stressful. If he ever saw Ino again, he wasn't sure if he would strangle her for throwing yet another rule in his face or yank her into his arms.

Dammit.

He entered the living room to find his siblings in their accustomed positions; Temari was sprawled out on the couch with a magazine, engrossed in the latest eyebrow waxing technique, and Kankuro was sunk into one of the armchairs playing-

Gaara frowned. Apparently, Kankuro was playing Cat's Cradle with a piece of fluorescent pink string. Nope, no way in hell was he going to ask. Nuh uh.

They both looked up when he plunked himself into the remaining armchair and gave him nods of acknowledgement. They lapsed into silence for another few minutes once Gaara pulled out a stack of assignments to grade.

It was Kankuro who finally broke it, his voice mostly absent-minded. "So I had a kid bolt out of Physiology class today, it was the strangest thing. Inuzuka something, I think it was."

Gaara's deep green eyes shot up. "His first name didn't happen to be Kiba, did it?"

Kankuro snapped his fingers excitedly. "Yep, that's it- Kiba Inuzuka!"

Gaara groaned and allowed his head to fall back against the milky smooth leather of his seat. His siblings exchanged glances and within minutes they had dragged the story of the current goings-on of his most problematic class.

He expected them to make a big deal about it, but they nodded calmly and went back to their respective activities. And that was the end of it.

Actually, not really.

After dinner, they ambushed him the kitchen, with crossed arms and parental reproachful looks on their faces. Well- at least Temari had the image of mother down pat- Kankuro mostly looked like a petulant six year old who had his best crayon snapped by a seven year old bully.

Nevertheless, it was him who kicked the lecture off. "Gaara, we understand that you and your girlfriend have your problems like all relationships and that perhaps you aren't emotionally ready for couples' counseling-" here Temari rolled her eyes at her brother's flair for the dramatics.

"-And sometimes these issue carry over into other aspects of your life," Temari carried on.

"But the second they start interfering with _our_ classes, it becomes _our_ problem. And we will take action," Kankuro asserted.

"So you are now going-"

"That sounds lovely," Gaara cut in, "but I have to go check on Ino."

"-to make things right with the Yamanaka girl," Temari finished. She then did a double take. "Wait, what?"

But Gaara was already out the door, into the pitch black night.

"Oh, shit," Temari fretted. "Remember to look both ways before crossing the street!" she called out after his retreating back.

XXXXXXX

Gaara rehearsed his speech in his head as he navigated the twisting and turning route that led to Ino's dorm room. So engrossed in his thoughts was he that he nearly tripped over a pair of long legs stretched across the hall. Gaara swore rather violently under his breath only to look up and discover that the legs were attached to the very person he was searching for.

Gaara meant to start out with some delicate small talk but what slipped out of his mouth was, "Why are you out here?" _Shit. Well that was tactful._

Ino bit her lip and self-consciously drew her legs into her chest. "Kiba and Hinata are in there right now."

Gaara blinked.

"Not like that, you Neanderthal!" she scolded. "He's trying to calm her down after her bout of borrowed confidence. Unfortunately, she bit off a bit more than she could chew in your classroom today and all those eyes on her kind of pushed her timid little psyche over the edge."

"Oh," was all Gaara could manage to say. What was it about those damn baby blues that was so disarming? Suddenly feeling like his standing height of six foot four might come off as rather foreboding to seated Ino, Gaara leaned against the brick wall and sunk down next to her.

Short and to the point. Ino thought she would get used to his succinct sentences but they still felt much to stiff and she suddenly found herself longing for the night she had cooked dinner and he had walked her home, when conversation had flowed much more freely. Ino sighed.

"How is your wrist?" he spit out suddenly, not liking the slightly forlorn look that crossed her face.

Ino glanced down at her forearm involuntarily. "It's fine. Perfectly alright," she said. The bruises had almost faded entirely now.

"About what you told me that night when you fixed my car… I know we haven't talked about it yet but-"

"You? Talk?" she asked sarcastically.

Okay, even Gaara saw the humor in that one. "But-" he repeated

"There's no but, Gaara. It's done. Over with," Ino interrupted again, the walls quite obviously springing up again. With a vengeance.

Her icy silence threw Gaara off his game yet again. For someone who literally never reached out as it was, getting past Ino's guard was more daunting a task than scaling the Eiffel Tower wearing only your underpants. In the rain.

Yet even he could see the melancholy in her posture as she slumped against the wall across from her dorm, eyeing the closed door. Lost. Alone. Dejected.

All emotions he grew up feeling. Steeling his will, Gaara planned his next course of action.

"Does that take long?" he asked, gesturing to the door to indicate his reference to her roommate being consoled.

"Experience dictates- probably all night."

"That settles it then," Gaara said pushing to his feet. He then stepped in front of her and held out his hand.

"Settles what?" she asked, absolutely bewildered as the alarm began to settle in.

"You're not spending the night out in the hallway. I know you must have spent enough nights without a bed when you… lived on the streets…" Gaara's rough voice quieted considerably, as if he wasn't quite sure of how to approach the subject.

Ino still didn't look entirely sold on the idea so he waved his hand in a silent request. Ino looked him in the eye and hesitated for another second before placing her hand in his. Ignoring the spark and spreading heat that followed, Gaara closed his fingers reassuringly over hers and pulled her to her feet.

"So where are we going, exactly?" she asked, figuring she should at least know what disaster she was getting herself into for once in her life. Before she stepped in it.

"My house," he said simply, his firm declaration leaving no room for argument as he led her down the hall.

Neither had noticed that their fingers had remain twined together. And when they did- neither had the strength to pull free.

XXXXXXX

I'm still so sorry I took so long with this, but on the bright side I made it longer than usual! This chapter isn't actually quite what I had in mind, some scenes took shape differently than I had anticipcated, often expanding from their original intention so I didn't get as far into the plot as I would have liked.

As for the fight between Ino and Sakura- I was quite disappointed with how it turned out. I think part of it was that I just witnessed a similar fight between some of my friends so it was a touchy subject and partly that my heart wasn't really in it 'cause I didn't want them to fight. But it is necessary at this moment in time.

So probably I lost a lot of readers (damn you sports! Not actually I love you really!) but can you still please review?


	8. Chapter 8

"You know most people keep actual fruit in their fruit bowls."

The sound of Ino's voice drew Gaara's attention away from the papers he was grading at the kitchen table toward the island, where she had immediately hoisted herself upon after they had entered the room, claiming her perch. Gaara squinted slightly to study the object she held between two delicate fingers.

Okay weird.

Even he didn't know how to explain how a fluorescent green bouncy ball could possibly end up there. His money was on Kankuro, who had once left the telephone in the fridge. To this day, Temari swore they were still a standing joke at the phone company.

Bastards.

Not quite knowing how to respond to Ino's apparent knack for plucking mysteries from thin air, Gaara chose to not respond at all and held his silence. Well- temporarily at least. History was not exactly on his side in the case of silence.

Gaara won his silent bet minutes later when Ino's leg-swinging escalated into leg thumping, slowly building up speed until it was regular as his heart beat. Come to think of it, it was hitting the exact same beat as his heart. In some obscure part of his brain, Gaara wondered if she could actually hear his heart, despite her haphazard-position on the island- halfway across the kitchen.

It wasn't long before the incessant thumping pushed him over the edge and he was free-falling into shark-infested waters. Snap went his pencil in frustration. "Do you mind?" he demanded hotly as he shoved back from his chair- the thing _normal_ people sat on.

"Sixty-four."

Gaara had to close his eyes briefly, not quite trusting himself to speak yet after being confronted with another one of Ino's cryptic and vague numbers. They always seemed to lead to fun, happy-times revelations. Sarcasm should be noted.

Silently counting to five (he didn't have the patience to make it ten), Gaara confirmed he had a check on his considerable temper before crossing his arms and asking, "Excuse me?" in polite disbelief.

"I had expected only about fifty-two, give or take, but I seem to be off my game today I'm afraid," she explained, rather forlornly. Or, at least in her mind she explained.

In reality, she was met with Gaara's blank stare.

"How many repetitions it took to distract you," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You've been grading the same paper for the past hour and a half. I've heard of impossible standards but give the poor kid a break!"

Gaara's eyes widened almost imperceptibly, but still with a visible degree of incredulousness, and his eyes darted over his shoulder on an impulse entirely separate from his conscious mind. Sure enough, sitting on top of the stack was the same sheet he had originally sat down to. He distinctly remembered this, having always found it strange (but never summoning the interest to ask) why Tenten never signed her papers with a last name. It had always been merely Tenten.

Unknowingly, he had spent the better part of the evening staring at the same god damn sheet of paper until it had become an almost maniacal obsession, a habit dating back to his youth. It had taken therapists several years to touch upon the subject- yet this seemingly air-headed blonde (Gaara fully admitted to this being his initial interpretation of the lunacy that was Ino) had picked up on it almost immediately. Air-headed she was obviously not.

Okay, maybe obviously wasn't quite the right word considering she was currently engrossed with bouncing her newly discovered treasure against the cabinet. And annoyingly close to his ear at that.

"I'm pretty sure I bruised my heel in the process," she carried on, lifting her leg to display the slightly discolored flesh for emphasis. Gaara's pupils dilated slightly as the dark material of her skirt from classes earlier rode up, exposing more skin of her creamy thighs and causing his latent hormones to run rampant.

Gaara started as a cool piece of metal jabbed into the back of his neck. What the hell? Without his noticing, Gaara had wandered over to lean against the counter during Ino's explanation, draw to the whimsical quality of a voice who thought beyond their years. At least the shock had torn his eyes away from Ino's legs so shouldn't excuse him of indecent staring.

Gaara blew out a mental sigh, silently bowing down to whoever originated the phrase "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" as he too hoisted himself onto the counter opposite of Ino's island.

XXXXXXX

"Temari did you know that ramifications is a synonym for-" Kankuro never did get to share what fun new fact his intellectual toilet paper had revealed as his sister violently schussed him. She did however beckon him to join her in peering around kitchen door. Kankuro's eyes almost bugged at of his head as he came face to face with Ino and his little brother sitting across from each other atop the polished culinary surfaces.

"They've been just sitting there for the past half hour playing catch!" Temari said in awe, not quite grasping the concept.

"For a kid who never allowed himself to have a real childhood, that's certainly… innocent. It's almost like he's living in reverse, seeing as I'm so used to considering him as boring as an old man the age of thirty."

"That's as good a way of putting it as any I suppose."

"I just wish he wouldn't have skipped the hormone-crazed adolescent stage though- this whole child-like wonder episode is seriously starting to mess with my mojo."

Temari gave an involuntary shudder, vigorously shaking her head in attempts to banish repressed memories of Kankuro in his own "hormone-crazed adolescent stage". "First of all- you have less mojo than an alphabet without o's, which just leaves you with mj (and we all know how that worked out for Mr. Thriller himself). Second of all- be careful what you wish for; it's two in the morning, you really think Ino's going home tonight.

Kankuro paled in response.

XXXXXXX

Ino had indeed not gone home that night. She also had not gone to sleep. Her and Gaara's innocent game of catch had turned into the two flinging the little green ball at each other's heads at astonishing speeds, which had once more escalated into what had to be the most violent game of tag in history. So no, Ino had most certainly not gone to sleep.

And that was how Hinata saw as she stumbled into their dorm at seven in the morning, bleary eyed and sporting several interesting circular red marks. Due to her rather disheveled appearance, Hinata felt no malice when Ino immediately dropped face-first onto her bed, as graceful as an elephant in a tutu.

"Sorry 'bout yesterday." Ino's voice was muffled by her pillow but Hinata heard loud and clear.

"Apology accepted Ino," she replied softly. "I'm not mad at you not really. I just- I don't understand why- out of all of the guys on campus- Sakura holds… interest… in our professor. Wasn't Sasuke enough? Sai? Naruto- a boy who loved her more than the sun?"

"Even more than ramen," Ino agreed with a reluctant smirk.

Hinata smiled softly in response, glad to see Ino's sense of humor hadn't been washed away in the ever-rising torrent of betrayal. Though Ino's beauty had been legendary back in their high school days, it had always been her smile that stuck in everyone's minds, the honesty so openly displayed had been haunting. To see her smile fade would be like seeing the sun whited out- while there would be other stars shining out there, all would seem almost artificial due to their distance.

But for now, it was enough to know that she could still embrace the world with the same whole-heartedness that she had before… well, just before everything.

XXXXXXX

"You're doing what?" Gaara's voice may have been low and even but his tone could not be interpreted any way other than menacing death threat.

"I'm taking Sakura Haruno out," Kankuro said nervously while rubbing the back of his neck in a compulsive manner. If he managed to make it out of this with both testicles still attached, it would be the act of a merciful God. Or maybe God was holding out for some bus to come out of nowhere on the day he forgets to do his laundry and goes commando.

Oh well- you don't know if the waters over your until you jump, after all.

XXXXXXX

So I wasn't sure when I would be able to get the rest of it done so I decided to give you all this much so yes I know it is short. Basically, I hoped this chapter kind of illustrate the difference between Gaara and Ino and how these same differences are what is drawing Gaara in which makes for an interesting relationship. Next chapter (should all go well) I'm thinking that they will move further forward as a "couple" but please tell me if you think this is too fast and I am rushing!


End file.
